On the Outside: Of Royalty and Escapees Book 3
by Dawn Bently
Summary: Some ten years later, it seemed the past had finally stayed in the past until a trip back to Incarceron threatens to haunt Finn Kerio and Attia regardless of their time on the Outside. Sequel to To Fall and Rise Again. Kerio/Attia, Finn/Claudia, Casper/OC
1. Chapter 1

** After quite a bit of encouragement to continue my Incarceron stories, I've written the third story, which follows To Fall and Rise Again. It's not exactly what most had been hoping for, but I hope you'll like it all the same. **

**As Always, leave a review!**

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Attia watched from the back porch of her father's Primstone manor as Ronan and Keiro shot arrows from a selection of rather expensive bows into an array of targets of varying sizes set up at varying distances away. In the small, but expanding, garden, six year old Kyra played in the dirt as she pulled up the flowers or weeds that were exceptionally bright in color. Her nanny was seated nearby her, watching over her and intervening every few seconds when Kyra tried to taste the petals or stems of the flowers in her fingers. Off in the distance, Mason, now second in command of the Royal Guards, followed three paces behind seven year olds Christopher and Finn, who over the last year had grown exceptionally close. Now, they were as inseparable as Finn and Keiro had been years ago Inside.

As Attia's eyes traveled back to Ronan and Keiro, she noticed they'd grown bored of the never moving targets and started to shoot their arrows towards the tree line of the forest, some fifty yards away from them. They were probably shooting at some animal or another, but from where she sat she couldn't see anything but the trees.

"Christopher is lovely, Attia," Claire commented from the side. Ronan and Claire, in the last two years, had been married, and Ronan had been officially recognized as Attia's father at Court. None of that meant anything to Attia, Keiro, or Ronan, but Finn said those distinctions would make things easier for him later on. With Ronan recognized as Attia's father, she was now set to inherit the Primstone Manor after his death, and with Ronan and Claire married, her daughters from her previous marriage were able to keep their father's inheritances separate from their mother's after some rearranging on Attia and Finn's parts.

"He's sweet," Attia answered before she finally turned to Claire. She was seated across the table from Attia, a little cup of tea in her hands as she overlooked the grounds as Attia was.

"Your father adores him," Claire said as she let out a soft laugh. She turned her gaze to Attia, half amazed at how alike she and her father were. Attia turned as well, but said nothing since she noticed one of Claire's daughters coming out from the house and join them. As Zoe took the empty seat between Attia and her mother, Attia looked back out at Keiro and Ronan.

"That bow is going to snap," Attia commented suddenly, not realizing she was cutting off Zoe when she'd just started to say something to her mother. The two other women looked out at the Ronan and Keiro just in time to watch Keiro pull back on the string with an arrow. Just as he pulled back completely, a loud crack filled the air when the wood snapped in his hand and he instinctively reacted by dropping it.

"How did you know that?" Zoe asked in complete shock as she turned to Attia, but Attia had already stood up and gone into the manor to find the bandages. When she returned to the porch, Keiro was seated in the seat she'd risen from, his arm laying out on the table with Mason looking over the wound.

"There's wood embedded in the cut," Mason said simply when he noticed Attia return to the table and drop a collection of bandages and cleaning solutions on the table. In her other hand, she held a clear bottle of alcohol until she set it down on the edge of the table gently. In a sealed pouch among the bandaged, she retrieve a long tweezers like instrument before setting the pouch back down and lifting the bottle again.

"Here," she said simply as she passed it to Keiro's good arm.

"Is it going to hurt that bad?" he questioned as he took the bottle. She just shrugged as she looked at him until he raised the bottle to his lips and let a generous amount of the liquid slid down his throat. After he set the bottle down on the table, Attia slowly pried open the wound, only vaguely aware that Claire and Zoe had escaped the table so as not to get sick by Attia's makeshift surgery-like treatment of Keiro's sudden wound.

Keiro gasped at the sudden pair, his other hand grasping the edge of the table tightly as Attia quickly drew out the three slivers of wood that were embedded in the bloody gash. When she finished she dropped the tweezers on the table and used a clean towel to wipe around the wound. She used a cream inside the wound that quickly alleviated the pain before she bandaged it up tightly.

"You should be fine tomorrow," she told him after she tied off the bandage and looked up at him. "These fancy creams work really well," she added when she sensed Keiro's hesitation at how soon the wound would heal. With Finn on the throne, the medical and technological advances that been restricted were flowing freely and making changes in everyday life that were unheard of just a short five years ago.

"Are you ok?" Chris asked from the steps of the porch, pulling attention to him and little Finn, who must've come up to the house at the same time Mason had. Attia had taken a seat where Zoe had been, while Keiro's attention went to the two boys.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Keiro answered as Chris took a few steps forward slowly. Finn, however, nearly ran forward, eyes wide at the thick, but still bloodied bandages around Keiro's forearm. Keiro had pulled Finn up to his lap when the boy had tried to poke at the wound, while Christ was perfectly fine to stand a few paces back. The way the boys regarded Keiro's wound was hardly surprising though. Whenever Finn had hurt himself running around, he was always eager to watch the healers fix him up, even stitch his wounds closed if the wound was big enough. Chris, however, always looked away and was rather squeamish until the point where Attia had requested the healers at Court give him a sedative when he'd fallen and broken his arm.

"Did it hurt?" Finn asked, eyes glued on Keiro's face.

"Of course it hurt," Kyra commented from behind the three boys. Attia had leaned over to watch her step up the stairs, one hand clutching at her nanny's skirt. Her knees and socks were now brown with dirt as was the hem of her skirt. "Don't be silly, Finn."

"I'm not being silly, Kyra."

"Alright," Keiro said before Kyra could respond. It had been an all too common exchange between the pair as of late and Attia was sure Keiro didn't have the patience to hear it again. Keiro put Finn back down on the ground and the two boys had followed Kyra and her nanny after the nanny had waved for them to follow, leaving Ronan, Attia, and Keiro on the porch. Mason was still lingering as well, but over the last few years, they'd learned to just let him blend into their surroundings unless his presence really was too distracting.

"How does it feel?" Attia asked as she looked over at Keiro again. He met her gaze, feeling the tenderness of her gaze for the few moments that it lasted. It wasn't as though those moments were rare anyway. Since having children, Attia had grown a lot gentler than she'd ever been before. In the beginning, those moments were only reserved for infant Finn. By the time they'd had Kyra, she'd started to be gentle with Keiro as well, and he always matched it whenever those moments included him.

"It's fine, now," Keiro answered, still surprised at how well all the new medications could work, even if he'd used them countless times before. Attia only nodded as she reached over to slip her fingers into his and squeeze his hand for a second or two before she retrieved her hand.

"Zoe's husband should be here soon," Ronan said as he pulled out a chair from the table and sat across from Attia and Keiro.

"Great," Attia replied sarcastically and Keiro let out a laugh.

"He's not that bad," Ronan said as he turned to meet Attia's gaze. She narrowed her eyes at him before she rolled her eyes and turned away. "Alright, he's pretty annoying, but Zoe doesn't like either of you very much anyway."

"Because we're not as refined as she is," Attia commented as she turned her gaze to her father. Her tone of voice did not go unnoticed by either her father or Keiro.

"It's the town's annual festival and Claire volunteered the manor for the location, so just behave," Ronan replied, obviously beyond carrying too much about the ridiculous things of life on the Outside. Of course, given the choice of hosting his wife's ridiculous festival or going back Inside, he'd choose the party any day.

"Aren't we always behaved?" Attia replied.

"Yes, well, with those kids running around I suppose you are."

"They hear anything you whisper within fifty feet of them," Keiro commented rather bitterly at how easily the children could pick up things he didn't necessarily mean for them to.

"Children can be like that," Ronan replied, though his eyes had shifted over to Attia. She noticed the change in his expression and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she questioned, but Ronan said nothing as he shook his head. Eventually, the three moved into the manor, Mason trailing behind them as he always was as part of his job. He hadn't actually shadowed Attia and Keiro in some time, but since they were leaving Court, Finn had assigned him to them again out of safety reasons. Of course, by now, Keiro had mostly gotten over any half-baked conspiracies he had about Attia and Mason.

"Attia," Claire called just as the three had moved through the hallway that ended at the front room of the manor. "Would you like to come with us into town to get the rest of the supplies?" she asked sweetly. Whether she was aware of her daughter's dislike for Attia or not remained to be seen.

"I think I'll stay behind, thank you," Attia answered as she forced a sweet smile for roughly two seconds then turned back to Keiro. Before either could say anything, Zoe's husband had emerged from the side hallway, appearing to have just washed his hands. Keiro and Attia looked up at him, but neither said anything as they walked around him to go down the hallway he'd just come from. Ronan knew they were escaping for their bedroom, so he was the one left to converse with the man left behind.

"It's almost worse than Court out here," Keiro muttered after he'd shut the door behind him. Attia had continued through the room to sit on the bench pushed up against the foot of the bed. She pulled one ankle up to her knee in order to pull her rather feminine shoes off her feet. Since she didn't respond to him, Keiro assumed she hadn't heard him, not that he really cared. She'd started to rub the outside of her foot briefly before she dropped her foot to the ground and pulled up the other.

"I don't think it's that bad," Attia finally responded when Keiro had positioned himself on the bed behind her. His feet were flat on the bench top on each side of her, his hands resting on her shoulders. "At least out here, we don't have to pretend too hard to like everyone."

"What? Because we try so hard at Court?" Keiro laughed and Attia laughed with him. He didn't say anything further as he fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. When Attia joined him on the bed, his arm moved instinctively to the same spot around her shoulders that they'd found was the most comfortable position for both of them.

They were in the same room Ronan had fixed up for Attia years ago, and it was the same room she and Keiro had shared during every trip there since that first trip. Over the years, Ronan had finished the restoration process so now the room was complete. The wallpaper was done, the furniture all in place, and all the fixtures in their adjoined bathroom connected to the water supply.

"It's not like anybody will be expecting anything from us anyway, tonight," Attia pointed out. He nodded a she turned his head towards her. After a moment or two, he pressed their lips together, partially surprised that she'd returned the gesture. Her free hand moved from her side to his cheek, then down to his neck. Even with one arm recently sliced open, he managed to roll them over so that he lay above her.

The hand that had been on his neck slid around to the other side so that her arm now wrapped around his neck. Her other hand was searching for the bottom of his shirt, and once she found it, her fingers slid up against his bare skin. At the same time, Keiro let his kisses shift from her lips to her cheek, then to her neck and finally settle in the single spot that made Attia tense and freeze beneath him as the sensation ran through her.

"Will you wear that blue dress tonight?" Keiro asked absentmindedly as he moved his lips from that spot to continue down her collar bone. She would've rolled her eyes at his question, considering the timing he'd chosen for the question, and ultimately what he was asking. Why the question was so surprising, she didn't understand. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd ever passive-aggressively told her what he wanted her to wear, and yet she could never seem to wrap her mind around the concept. He was Keiro. Handy with a knife, kill someone in two swipes of a blade, escaped prisoner. And here he was asking her to wear a pretty bless dress because he liked to look at it from across the room.

"Sure," she finally answered, realizing that her answer was somewhat overdue, not that Keiro cared at all. They didn't have that kind of relationship. They were Finn and Claudia, and they definitely weren't Casper and Anne. Those were love stories from fairytales. Attia and Keiro were a practical match. Been at the same place at the same time type of situation. Or at least that's what they still told themselves three kids later.

They're tryst was rather short lived, but that was not a testament to how much it was enjoyed. Rather than dressing in the clothes Keiro had scattered about the room, Attia retrieved the blue dress Keiro had indirectly requested from the closet. She had a number of blue dresses, but she knew exactly which one Keiro meant. He always meant that dress. He was a fan of the corset too, but after two pregnancies Attia refused to be in the same room as one.

She stepped into the skirt and pulled the straps up to her shoulders before she adjusted the placement of the dress across her chest. Before she even turned to call for Keiro, he'd appeared at her side, one hand holding the dress just below the zipper, the other delicately pulling the zipper tab up slowly until he completely zipped up the dress. As Attia smoothed out the dress to complete her appearance, she felt Keiro move to stand behind her, his hands shifting slightly until one was on each side of her.

"You're very affectionate today," she told him as she looked up to meet his gaze in the mirror.

"Is that a problem?"

Attia's lips pulled up in a grin before she could stop it. Keiro's smug smirk made an appearance as well in response. "An insecure woman would think that meant you were cheating on me with some whore of yours," Attia replied suddenly. Her comment wasn't entirely out of line for her character, considering he heard her say far less kind things in the past, but the comment startled him all the same. She hadn't shifted to that side of her in a very long time, and as such, he'd become accustomed to mothering Attia. The Attia who was unconditionally sweet and kind and full of gooey things to say about anything and anyone. The Attia who had biting remarks for any pretty woman that might've gained his attention some ten years ago was a harsh comparison and yet the same exact person.

"So if some attractive woman's body turns up tonight, will I know who did it?" he replied, as he held her gaze. She narrowed her eyes at him as she smiled. He could tell she'd considered covering up her smile for maybe a second, but she'd resolved in letting him see how his remark affected her.

"You think I'm insecure?" she asked as she turned to face him, one hand landing on his chest. Her fingers pressed into his flesh softly, but certainly enough to create some pressure beneath each fingertip.

"I think you're a little homicidal if given the motive."

"And you fancy yourself a good enough motive?"

He raised his eyebrow at her as he mulled over a response. It hadn't been that long since their last banter-filled conversation, nor had it been much longer since their last argument. Yet, he was lost for a response all the same.

"Aren't I?" he finally asked and Attia let a laugh escape her and paired it with a smile. She stopped pressing back into his chest, and instead curled her fingers around the open flap of his shirt to pull him down to her. Meeting his kiss was not terribly difficult in her heels, but the change in her height did require some adjustments on his part. He wasn't used to the extra few inches she had.

After a few moments, Attia released his shirt and he stood up again as she started to smooth out the wrinkles she'd created on his shirt. After she buttoned it up for him, he held out his arm for her and she started on his cuffs, every so often peering up to meet his gaze. "You're just being ridiculous to think some other woman would have you," she finally commented just as she finished with the other cuff and started to walk away from him. Of course, she lingered just long enough to see him smile at the comment and accept his fate to lose in another banter. But when did winning or losing ever matter when he got to have sex with her no matter what?


	2. Chapter 2

**Let me know what you think!**

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As Attia and Keiro entered the back room near their bedroom, they looked around to find Ronan standing with Zoe's husband near the far wall of the room. Claire's other daughter, Vivian, was with them, but only servers populated the rest of the room. Zoe and Claire were probably on the other side of the Manor making all the final preparations.

As Attia and Keiro approached them, Ronan noticed their presence, which alerted Zoe's husband and Vivian to them as well. When Vivian looked over at Attia, she seemed to take notice of everything from Attia's shoes to her hair, while Attia only ever displayed mild interest in her and her sister. "You're skin is so bright and glowing," Vivian finally commented when her eyes settled back on Attia's face.

"Thank you," Attia replied simply, understanding all the expectations of a polite person and adhering to them even if she preferred not to.

"Is it a special wash?" Vivian asked curiously. "I hear there's a new skin care line in Court."

"I had sex," Attia answered abruptly. Keiro, who's bee sipping on a glass of wine, nearly choked at the admission and turned to her after he took a second to collect himself. "What?" she asked him, ignoring the look he gaze her. Keiro rolled his eyes as he turned away from her and looked to the other three in the conversation. Vivian and Zoe's husband were a bit more than surprised, while Ronan had simply cleared his throat and nodded as he waiting for someone else to change the subject. I'd been years since he'd lived under the delusion that his daughter was pure and angelic.

"Here," Keiro said simply as he picked up another wine glass from a passing server and handed it to Attia. "It's sweet, you'll like it," he assured her when she was hesitant to take the glass. After taking the glass and having a sip, she looked back up to see Vivian and her brother-in-law had escaped.

"I think you could be a bit more social than that," Ronan commented, his words almost sounding like a scold.

"Well, she wanted to know."

"Then offer to send her some special expensive product from Court," Ronan replied sharply and Attia rolled her eyes. "She is my step-daughter, Attia, and I'd like her not to hate you."

"She's a prude."

Keiro laughed to himself on the side of the conversation, and when the two peered to him, he kept his silence. With a deep breath and one last disapproving shake of his head, Ronan walked past the two to join the others for the final preparations of the event. Attia and Keiro lingered there for a few minutes as they finished their drinks. When they had finished them, they went down the hallway, splitting up when Attia went towards the kitchen where Claire was speaking with her daughters while Keiro joined Ronan in the front room to finish hanging up the last of the decorations.

"High Duchess or not, she's not exactly what one thinks of when they hear nobility," Vivian commented just in time for Attia to hear it. The three could not yet see Attia though, since she was still in the dining room that connected to the kitchen and the doors hid her

"Doesn't matter, Viv," Claire replied sharply. "She's Ronan's daughter, and she's one of the King's closest friends. If you want a position at Court, She's probably your only option."

When Attia strode into the room, the three peered over at her, but she only glanced back at them for a few brief seconds. Instead, her attention was on the window that looked out over the grounds. As she neared the window, she could see Chris, Kyra, and Finn running together through the empty field, their nanny running behind them. When at Court, she usually was the one to run with them through the gardens, but tonight her and Keiro's presence was necessary for the town's festival. Apparently, as Ronan had put it, Claire had boasted about the presence of the High Duke and Duchess.

"Are you ready for tonight, Attia?" Claire asked curiously when Attia had looked back to them.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm sure real nobility would be much better suited for this kind of occasion. I'd be much happier with my children anyway."

Vivian and Zoe only stared back at Attia while Claire took a moment to compose herself. She was more accustomed to Attia, and though Attia's comment wasn't completely out of line, it didn't help matters between the three women. Before anybody said anything, however, Keiro walked through the doorway, eyes on Attia.

"Ronan thinks we should move everything outside because the main hall will be too full," he explained, but Attia just stared back at him. "What is it?" he finally asked.

"I don't think we can help you. We're busy talking about nobility."

"Attia," Keiro sighed before he turned to look at the other three women. When he turned back to Attia, she looked all too satisfied with herself. "Could you just help me set up a few tables, alright?"

"Yes," Attia answered in a laugh as she followed him to the kitchen door that led to the grounds.

"Do you have to antagonize them?" Keiro questioned while they were still in the house. Claire knew they hardly cared that anybody could over hear their conversations, but that wasn't a concept or practice either of her daughters were accustomed to.

"I did not make the first comment," Attia replied, though her voice didn't have a defensive edge. "I simply walked in when they were gossiping about me."

"They are your step sisters, you know," Keiro pointed out as he pulled the door open for her to walk though. Instead, Attia turned to him, head tilted back to meet his gaze, even though she was wearing heels.

"What does that make me? Cinderella?" She'd become very familiar with children's tales ever since having Finn.

"You'd probably stab someone with your glass slipper before you married anyone in them," Keiro snipped as he put one hand on her waist to urge her to turn around and continue out the door. With a half laugh, half giggle, Attia did as he wanted and he followed her out of the kitchen, pulling the door shut behind him.

Attia and Keiro had managed to set up a few tables along the wall of the manor. Keiro's coat had become unbuttoned and Attia had lost her heels in the process, but as the servers started to bring out the trays of food and drinks, nobody really noticed. By the time Ronan made it to the grounds, the tables were nearly filled and all the lights were strung up against the walls and through the bushes. Keiro stood off to the side near a little pond as he slowly buttoned his coat up again. Attia was balancing against him with one arm while her other hand struggled to fit her feet back into her heels. When Ronan approached them again, they looked the perfect part of the polite nobles they weren't.

"I think this will work better," Ronan declared simply as he looked back over the makeshift space. Claire and her daughters were emerging from the manor, Zoe's husband trailing behind them. Kyra, Chris, and Finn had already begun to play again, now dressed in their formal clothing. Zoe's daughter had even joined them and the four were keeping to themselves closer to the tree line than to the house with only the nanny and Mason nearby.

"How long will this thing go for?" Attia asked curiously as she noticed a trickle of people beginning to walk out.

"I don't know," Ronan answered just seconds before he plastered a smile across his face and stepped forward to help greet the guests alongside Claire. Attia and Keiro did not seek out anybody to have conversation. If anyone approached them, they were as cordial as they could be.

Attia and Keiro quickly noticed that the men and woman mostly divided up in terms of socializing. Large groups of women were together while all the men gathered together in their own groups. Keiro had somehow been pulled into one of them when Attia had left his side to get them drinks. When she returned with the drinks and lingered, she noticed the way the other two men in the small group looked over at her. Zoe's husband didn't have the same look they did, though. None, however, said anything about her presence.

She was there for roughly one minute before she caught onto what the conversation was about, which explained Keiro's silence. "I just don't see why so much funding should be set aside for another academy instead of pumping up the economy in the country side," one of the men commented.

"I think allocating so much money for defense is ridiculous," the other replied and Attia couldn't help her eye roll. Since the two men had turned to Keiro at that exact moment, they had seen the gesture, but again remained quiet.

"Well, Your Grace, surely you know a thing or two about what the King has planned?" the first asked while the second kept his gaze on Attia. The way they only inquired the man for his opinion made it very clear to Keiro and Attia that the old hierarchy of men and women had not yet faded in Primstone.

"So much money is used for the Royal Guards because the royal family has grown rapidly in the last ten years, the King would never take any kind of risk with the lives of the royal children," Attia finally said, knowing Keiro would have nothing to say on the topic. With their children a little older now, Attia had returned to her work in finances in the King's household, but her return had caused much less of a stir than it had when she originally entered.

"Well, I can't imagine the King tells you things about the funding allocation," the first man replied, trying to sound as kind as possible.

"I think all this talk of the economy is rather taxing, don't you?" Zoe's husband asked as he looked to Keiro, obviously trying to defuse the situation.

"I have a permanent place on the King's Council where we discuss everything from the economy to how much money we deduct every year from the annual income of every noble family in the Realm, but I find it interesting that you don't say anything about that at all," Attia commented, completely disregarding Zoe's husband. The other two men, certainly paid her their attentions now, and since nobody else said anything, she continued. "The Academy has been put in motion because the King is thinking about the future of his children and wants them to have a well rounded education, which these days is far more comprehensive than it has been in recent years because the King has spent a large portion of his time undoing all the backwards ways of Procedure."

"Protocol," Keiro corrected and Attia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said, her eyes still on the two men. Neither really knew what to say, and had eventually drifted away from Keiro and Attia.

"So, I hear you had a riveting conversation about economics," Ronan commented as he approached the pair. Attia laughed at the wording before she nodded to answer his question.

"I guess you could say that," she told him. "And I'll consider myself scolded, alright?" she told him before she finished her drink, handed the empty glass to Keiro, and walked away. She went past all the men talking among themselves to join Claire's side in a conversation among the women.

When the women had gotten around Attia's demeanor, they seemed to not mind her so much. The fact that so many had various questions for her was surprising, but she answered most of them the best she could. Of course, sometimes she gave into the need to fabricate a few answers, and Claire could tell that much, but it was inconsequential anyway. Most of their questions were about the fashion of Court, or how the wife of someone so important handled his busy schedule. That was the answer she fabricated mostly because Keiro might not appreciate being called lazy to quite a number of gossipy women if he ever found out.

When a shrill, child-like scream filled the air, Attia's head had shot up to the tree line. She'd been checking the children every ten minutes or so, but now she saw Mason running towards something moving in the tree line where Kyra was running from. Her scream, as she called for Attia, was nearly deafening. Attia had responded instantaneously as she slipped out of her heels in half a second and retrieved a knife from a nearby table before starting towards the empty grounds.

The nanny had quickly gotten a hold of Finn and Chris, each in one hand, and was moving towards the house as fast as she could with two seven year old boys. Attia glanced over them quickly before letting the nanny pass her. Keiro had also approached the area, but he spent a little more time inspecting Zoe's daughter before sending her after the nanny.

"Attia!" Mason's voice yelled from the tree line and Keiro and Attia started in that direction. It was a mix of horror and fury that passed through them as they watched Mason carry Kyra out of the forest, three armed men chasing behind him. Attia had quickly thrown her knife at the man nearest to Mason, buying him a few precious seconds to get Kyra further away from the men. The three men gotten perhaps a few steps out of the forest, before realizing how many people were present at the event.

Behind them, they could vaguely hear the yells of panic as everyone filed back into the house, but neither dared turning the eyes away from the men who very well could've killed their daughter. It seemed to them, the three hadn't known there would be a festival with so many people there. That, of course, meant they were there solely to attack them. Nobody could want to attack Claire or Ronan. The only people staying at the Primstone Manor worth attacking were Keiro and Attia.

The man who Attia had thrown the knife at was still alive, but barely. He'd managed to pull the knife out of his stomach before he tried to sit up. The other two men, disregarding all the witnesses, charged forward, and Keiro and Attia spilt up, Keiro deliberately forcing the larger of the two to fight him. The small man had lunged at Attia with his own knife, but had only managed to cut a swallow slit down her forearm. It'd been years since she last fought, and she could feel it. She was sure Keiro could feel it as well, but neither had much a choice at the moment. In the back of her mind, she knew it was unlikely any of the three men would be shown enough mercy to live after getting that close to Kyra. Keiro wouldn't stand for that.

As expected, Keiro had managed to kill the man he fought, but only after pushing him to the ground and holding him there long enough to look back at their surroundings. There were still quite a few people outside, but nobody who could do anything to help them. He mostly only wanted to make sure the three children had been taken inside the house before he continued. So the second Ronan had gotten Finn into the house and shut the door, Keiro placed the final fatal stab in the man's chest.

Attia, however, hadn't fared as well as Keiro, and was held by the neck, the man's arm severely cutting off her air supply. As Keiro approached them, he tried to use Attia as his shield, but she refused to make that an easy task for him. Within seconds, Keiro positioned himself behind the man and broke his neck with a shift, and practice maneuver to twist the man's head and shoulders. The man fell to the ground, pulled Attia with him. She gasped for breath desperately as Keiro moved the body away from her. When she sat up, he bent down to look at her, his fingers forcing her chin up so he could meet her eyes.

"I'm ok," she told him when she had enough breath to speak, but her voice sounded radically different. Keiro only nodded as she continued to cough and gasp. He pulled her to him, his arm going around her waist as she struggled to breathe. As her breaths finally did begin to even out, Mason and Ronan had come out to the scene, all the guests by then having fled inside.

"Are you ok?" Mason asked, well aware that it was his job to protect Keiro and Attia. But he also knew that by not ensuring the safety of their children first, he'd have had hell to pay to Attia. That was how Attia and Keiro expected him to perform even if it resulted in either of their injuries or worse death.

Attia only nodded, but dropped her head to Keiro's shoulder. He tightened his arm around her waist, realizing his own breathing was short and ragged. "Where's Kyra?" Keiro asked suddenly, desperately as he looked up at Mason, then Ronan.

"She's fine," Ronan answered as he knelt down and gently touched the back of Attia's head. "She's with Claire."

"What the hell happened?" Attia demanded when she lifted her head and looked up at Mason. She was upset, and rightfully so, but it wasn't really Mason's fault.

"I don't know," he told her, realizing that wasn't the best answer he could give her. "They were playing, and then the next thing I knew she was screaming and running and I went after her. They were just running at us and I should've just taken care of them myself."

"No," Keiro and Attia said at the same time. Keiro let out a dry huff of a laugh before he kissed Attia's cheek and pushed her head back down on her shoulder. "You did the right thing," he said finally as he looked up at Mason again. "You always do that. Every time. I don't care if it's a cat that scared her. You move her away from it, then scare it away."


	3. Chapter 3

Attia and Keiro had gone straight into the house looking for Finn, Chris, and Kyra. After inspecting each of them, they went the down the hall and into their bedrooms. Attia took Finn and Chris into the room they shared and managed to get the two bathed and in bed relatively quickly while Keiro handled Kyra. After Attia had finished, she moved to stand in the door frame of Kyra's room, where Keiro laid across the bed, his coat discarded on the floor, while he read one of Kyra's books, probably of her choosing. She was curled up into his chest, her eyes glued to the bold letters Keiro had gotten so good at reading. Keiro never had so much skill in reading and writing until Kyra, simply because Finn never cared much for bedtime books. He wanted stories, but he wanted to hear stories from Incarceron, most of which Keiro had toned down or made up completely. Either way, Keiro didn't have to relearn how to read for that.

When Kyra was asleep, her head falling down onto the pillow, Keiro slowly and carefully rolled off of the bed and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders. A stuffed dog had fallen to the ground when he'd gotten off the bed, so he picked it up and tucked it under Kyra's arm before leaving the vicinity of the bed. Peering up, he noticed Attia watching him, his face falling when he noticed the darkness on her neck. In the dark room, they almost looked like shadows, but he knew that when they went into their room and turned the lights on, those shadows on her neck would turn into the bruises that they were.

"I think she's fine," Keiro said softly after they'd stepped out of the room and shut the door behind them.

"Finn and Chris didn't see anything," Attia replied and Keiro only nodded. While they were alone, he reached out for her, his hand gently nudging her chin upward so he could see the extent of the damage done to the column of her neck. One side of the bruise was darker and bigger than the other, but he had a feeling the other side was just as tender. When he tried to touch the bruise, Attia had instinctively flinched from his touch. He forced a smile that she returned before they started walking down the hallway. They passed their bedroom, both well aware that neither would get any sleep that night.

"Are they ok?" Ronan asked when he saw Attia and Keiro return to the front seating area. Ronan and Claire were seated on one couch, their hands joined between them, while Mason sat on the couch opposite them. Technically, he shouldn't sit when on duty, but Attia, Keiro, and Mason had developed a familiarity with each other that did away with all the formalities of Mason's position. Also, Keiro didn't give a damn if Mason stood, sat, or balanced on his head all day so long as the Knight protected the children the way he had.

"Yeah, I think so," Attia answered as she took the seat next to Mason. When he'd started to stand to give Keiro the seat, Keiro had crossed the room to look out the window. Attia's gaze focused on her father, so Mason remained where he was. "I think she was just scared," she added.

"Well, they didn't see anything," Ronan said, referring of course to how Keiro had subdued the men. "And we sent word to Court nearly an hour ago."

"What is Finn supposed to do?" Attia replied.

"Send an entire squad of the Royal Guard," Keiro answered, pulling attention to him on the other side of the room. Everyone seemed confused by his comment, until he pulled open the front door to allow in the ten armed Royal Guards led by Charles.

"Charles," Attia said, half in surprise, half in relief, as she stood up and crossed the room to reach him.

"The King sent us to put you at ease," Charles told her as he put his free arm around her shoulders to embrace her for a short hug. "How are you?"

"How am I?" Attia repeated as she pulled away from him and narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him. Charles had certainly aged over the years, but in the mind of Attia, he was as much the young talented Commander of the Royal Guard as he was ten years ago. "Three psychos tried to attack my children, Charles. I'm not doing that great."

"Right, well," Charles started as he matched her gaze. He and Keiro shared the ability to not be intimidated by Attia's glares, Charles more so than Keiro simply because Attia had a bit more power over Keiro than Charles by virtue of their relationship. If denying sex was considered a power. "You have an entire squad at your disposal to do with what you please. The King also requested that you return to Court whenever you feel safe enough to do so. We've brought a few extra carriages as well in case your father would like to come to Court."

"What aren't you telling me?" Attia replied sharply, ignoring all the Royal Guards as they filed into the room and spread out along the walls. Some had already ventured down the hallways, but her eyes were glued on Charles.

"We've been fielding threats for the last month, Attia, but none of them named you or Keiro explicitly," Charles answered.

"Are you kidding me?" Attia snapped, her voice rising in volume rather quickly. "This entire time we've been out here, and we've been receiving threats?"

"You know we receive threats daily," Charles answered, trying to help her see reason. "There was no way to know these had any weight to them."

"And if my daughter was dead right now, how much weight would you give them?"

Charles didn't reply to Attia's comment, simply because he was able to recognize when it didn't matter what he told her. Not that he blamed her for that attitude. A mother certainly had grounds to be upset if her children had been in any kind of real danger. He held her gaze for only a moment longer before he turned to the Guardsmen standing nearby.

"Take five men and run perimeter around the grounds. One Guard to each of the children at all times," he added as he turned to another Guardsman. "One each to Keiro and Attia and stand outside their bedroom door. Go into the children's rooms and just… stand there all night."

As Charles returned his gaze to Attia, she still had the same cold look across her face. "What else am I to do, Attia?" he asked her.

"Fine," Attia replied sharply before she turned away from Charles, obviously not all that satisfied with Charles' solution. Of course, Charles and Keiro were well aware that nothing would have satisfied her short of a Realm-wide hunt for whoever might have been sending the threats. Something like that would have to wait until they reached Court.

"Get some rest, Mason," Charles said as he turned to the Knight still seated across from Ronan and Claire. "That goes for you, too, Attia," Charles added as he turned back to her, still unfazed by her cold stare. When Keiro approached her and touched her arm with his fingertips, her face softened for roughly three seconds before it hardened again. She drew in a deep breath and met Keiro's gaze, before conceding and nodding to him, signaling it was safe for him to approach her. His arm snaked around her waist as they walked towards the hallway and started towards their room. Five guardsmen followed them, two going into the room Attia pointed out as Finn and Chris', and another slipping into Kyra's room. The remaining two stood on each side of Keiro and Attia's door.

Attia took longer than usual getting ready for bed, while Keiro simply slipped out of his outdoor clothes and slipped into his sleepwear. He was under the covers in a few minutes, while Attia was still lingering in the bathroom, the harsh overhead light blindingly bright to Keiro when he rolled over to look at her. She was leaning over the counter, her face close to the mirror, as she applied a lotion to her skin. She leaned back to stand up straight before she washed her hands and stared into the mirror again for a few minutes longer. After a few deep breaths, she shut off the lights and crossed the room, well aware that Keiro's eyes were still following her. She disappeared into the closet for a few minutes, then reemerged in her sleepwear.

After sliding into bed, leaving a few inches between her and Keiro, she leaned over and shut off the last light in the room and dropped down to the bed. Keiro took the liberty of closing the space between them, his arm wrapping around her waist as his lips went to her neck. "Stop it, Keiro. I'm not in the mood," she told him, her tone appropriate for her words. Keiro, however, didn't care as he continued to press light kisses to her skin.

"They're ok, you know," he told her in a soft whisper after he'd pushed her hair away from her ear. He said the words as though Attia didn't know the state of her own children. Didn't know that all three were safely tucked away in their beds, each with their own personal bodyguard.

"That doesn't make it any better," she answered, well aware that after so long, he could read her as though she gave him a line-by-line transcript of her thought process every second of every day. He could feel how tense her body was, every muscle tense as tough ready to throw back the covers and go running at an attacker at any moment. He ran his hand up and down her side, coaxing her into relaxing a little bit at a time.

When she did finally relax enough to maybe sleep a few hours, her breathing was deeper and slower. Keiro had resumed to kissing her neck, each kiss not lasting longer than a few seconds before moving on. When he felt her leaning back into him, his lips curled into a smile but he didn't stop his kisses. He moved his kisses from her neck to her lips when she turned into him. She let one arm reach up to his neck as she accepted his kisses.

"Feel better?" he asked softly when she pulled away from him. She met his gaze for a few moments before she nodded.

"I guess," she finally answered, keeping her eyes on his. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

Keiro heard the comment but didn't respond. Instead, he just smoothed back the hairs around her face. "You'll feel better tomorrow," he told her as he laid back down completely. Attia had started to settle into bed as well, but had quickly thrown back the covers and jumped out of bed. She was across the room and in the bathroom before Keiro even registered what had happened. When he heard her beginning to vomit, he rolled out of bed and started towards the bathroom rather leisurely. As he approached her, hunched over the toilet, he reached out to gather her long hair in his hands and held it there, at the nape of her neck, as she continued until she was finished.

Keiro, still keeping one hand on her hair, leaned over to turn on the faucet, and after knocking a cup over into the sink managed to fill it with water. When Attia stood up, she reached over for a towel to wipe her mouth, after which Keiro released her hair. It was an effortless exchange between the two as Attia lifted the cup to her lips, her other hand braced against the edge of the counter. Keiro stood right behind her, one hand on her waist, the other pulling stray strands of hair that were stuck to the front of her neck from sweat.

She set the empty cup on the counter and leaned over the sink, letting her head just fall down. Keiro hadn't yet left the bathroom, but she'd expected that much. All through her two pregnancies, he'd never left her when she got sick. Just as he did all the times before, he put his hands on her waists, his thumbs pressing into her muscles gently in an attempt to massage some of the stress away. After a few deep breaths, she leaned back against him, feeling his larger frame tighten to brace her additional weight.

"Are you ok?" he finally asked when he felt her head rest back against his shoulder. She only nodded before she lifted herself off of him and began to clean out her mouth while Keiro returned to the bedroom. As she started to climb back into bed, Keiro laid his arm out and held the covers up with his other. When she settled into the space beside him, he curled his arm over her shoulders, pressing their bodies together. He could feel her breathing, especially since she kept pressing against him.

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**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean you lost him?" Anne's voice nearly echoed as it bounced off the walls of Finn's official office. The Knight Charles has appointed as standing Commander in his absence stood before Anne looking every bit like a child being scolded. It was a rare occurrence for Anne to so much as raise her voice, but certain occasions did call for it. Currently, while Finn had all of Court on a virtual lockdown following the attack on Primstone Manor, Prince Chase had gone missing even while being followed by his own personal Knight to ensure his safety.

"He was there one second, and then gone the next," the Knight attempted to explain, but it was clear Anne was not open to any explanation he might've provided. Casper was standing behind her, well aware that it wasn't exactly the Knight's fault that he misplaced Chase, but was completely unwilling to step in. If he'd learned anything at all over the last few years, it was that he had no place stepping in between Anne and the safety of her only child.

"I don't care if he floated off the face of the planet, you're supposed to be right next to him all the time! What if we're attacked next and he's out there wandering around without anyone to protect him! What if they've already kidnapped him and it's all your fault!"

"Anne," Finn called once he started feeling bad for the Knight subjected to Anne's verbal reprimand. "I'm sure he's around here someone, and he'll show up. I've got all the Guards and the servants and maids looking for him. We will find him."

Anne whipped around to face Finn, her eyes still narrowed. She opened her mouth, ready to say something to Finn, but ultimately remained quiet. Had it been Casper to say all the valid points Finn had, Anne would've only continued in his direction. Finn, who was not her husband, and her King, was not subjected to the same things Casper was. Over the years of their marriage, Casper had lost his status as Prince in her mind, but that was probably for the better overall.

As though on cue, Claudia let herself into the room, holding Chase's hand as she led the boy around the corner. Anne visibly relaxed as she saw her son walk into the room with Claudia, his ever-present smile still across his lips as though completely unaware of any dangers that could be lurking around him. She went to him and dropped her knees to put her arms around his little shoulders, ignoring his protest even as she started to brush the dirt and grass from his clothing.

"Where were you?" Anne finally asked, her voice now returned to its usual sweet tone.

"Nowhere," Chase answered defiantly, but Anne ignored it. He was probably up to something he shouldn't have been doing, but that was to be expected.

"Picking on Victoria," Claudia said, and Anne laughed though Chase snapped his head up at Claudia, eyes narrowed defensively.

"No I wasn't!"

"It's ok, darling," Anne said sweetly as she brushed his hair from his forehead and smiled at him. Victoria was the daughter of one of Finn's relatively new Council members, and since her arrival at Court had become a popular target of John and Chase's boyish antics. As Anne got back to her feet, she turned to the Knight, still smiling as though nothing had happened at all. Rather than risk experiencing another of her moods, The Knight quickly took Chase from the room and disappeared around the corner.

"The last of the gardens have been cleared," Claudia said as she turned to Finn, who only nodded as he met her gaze. "And John and Charlotte are with their Knights."

"Ok," Finn said as he nodded, glad that the three royal children at Court were accounted for and safe. Of course, he was concerned with all the other people at Court, but understandably, he placed the well being of the royal family above all else.

"When are Attia and Keiro supposed to be back?" Casper asked from the other side of the room. Finn peered up to see Anne had stepped towards Casper and he'd draped his arm around her waist now that she'd returned to her usual demeanor.

"Any time now," Finn answered. "I sent them an extra carriage, but I'm not sure if her father wanted to come back to Court or not."

"Make sure you put him on a different floor from the Warden," Casper replied, and Finn let out a dry laugh as he nodded. Though Claudia's father hadn't actually been the official Warden of Incarceron in many years, he retained the title all the same, simply because that was how so many viewed him after so many years. As a result, he wasn't very popular among the Incarceron inhabitants, namely Ronan, who very often liked to blame the Warden for all his troubles on the Inside. Finn had learned that the hard way, when he'd unknowingly housed the two men on the same floor and forced them to interact on a regular basis. After some dividing of the rooms and remodeling to accommodate the growing royal family, Finn had realized the easiest way to house the two men was to put the Warden's room in the King's household, while putting Ronan's room in the High Duke's household.

Keiro and Attia's household was a relatively new addition starting when they'd had their son Finn. By creating a household under the High Duke's name and title, Finn allowed them to keep a nanny and a number of guards under their direct employment so as to make things easier whenever they traveled separately from the rest of the extended royal family. Housing Ronan in those quarters simply made the most sense and kept the peace of Court much more effectively.

"I don't really care how many threats you get on a daily basis, Charles," Attia declared as she pushed open the doors to Finn's office and let herself in. Keiro was walking beside her, but was eerily silent in the same way Casper had been during Anne's rant. Charles was walking in behind the pair, obviously more willing to argue with Attia than Keiro was. "The fact that anybody was capable of even thinking of getting that close to my children is unacceptable."

"I'm aware of your stance on the matter," Charles replied as his eyes followed Attia across the room, though he remained standing at the doorway. "But, when I was asked to drop all of my duties at Court to accompany you and your children, I've not been able to chase down any of the threats."

"Then run off and do that, Charles," Attia replied as she turned and narrowed her eyes at him. Charles held her gaze before he nodded once and began to step out of the room. It was rather telling how Charles recognized Attia's power before the King's, which was emphasized in the way Charles didn't even look to Finn before leaving the room, but under the circumstances, nobody in the room so much as blinked. After the door shut behind Charles, the six were alone in Finn's office, but the tension remained.

"Are you ok?" Finn asked finally as he turned to Attia. Under the overhead lighting of the office, the bruises on her neck looked more dramatic than they were, evidenced by Anne's reaction when Attia had turned in her direction.

"I'm great, Finn, considering I got to get strangled by somebody after getting reprimanded by my father for bitching at people who have no idea what they're talking about."

"Except for the strangling part, I don't know what you're talking about," Finn admitted as he kept watching her. She narrowed his eyes at him, but when Keiro touched her side she seemed to remember Finn wasn't the object of her anger and relaxed a little more.

"Nothing," Attia said finally as she turned away from Finn but avoided eye contact with anybody else in the room as well.

"Right, so… you're ok then?" Finn asked, eyes narrowed in confusion as he stared across the room at the pair. Only Keiro looked up at Finn, but the blonde rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Attia. "Did your father come back with you?" Finn asked, sensing neither were in a very talkative mood, though he still needed to know if there were more people staying at Court.

"Yes," Attia answered as she turned her gaze back to Finn. "And he insisted that I bring Vivian with us as well," she added, sounding none too pleased with the additional guest. "I had a maid make up my father's room for him and Claire but I won't keep Vivian in our quarters. You're just going to have to bring a blanket out to the stables for her or something."

They entire room laughed at the comment except for Anne, who'd never found Attia's step-sister quite as revolting as the others did. Truthfully, Vivian didn't really bother anyone as much as she bothered Attia, but Keiro didn't like Vivian by extension because those sorts of things were always far less of a deal when he agreed, especially since he had no real positive of disagreeing. Finn, largely, agreed for the same reasons, but Attia had less of a hold on Finn than she did Keiro. Of course, Attia still had some room to make Finn uncomfortable if they were ever at odds. Claudia didn't really mind Vivian but had become rather close to Attia after so many years and would rather spend time with Attia than Vivian anyway. Casper didn't really have an opinion on Vivian simply because he was quite content with the group of six in the office presently, while Anne, whose moral codes and sweet nature could never fathom why somebody could dislike Vivian so intensely as Attia did.

"I'll figure something out," Finn promised as he opened a binder that had been sitting on the corner of his desk. Claudia remained lingering behind him, her hands touching his shoulders as he flipped through the pages, which of which documented the empty rooms of Court. Of course, all of that had been transferred to the computer system he had installed some five years ago, but for some reason the empty rooms always seemed easier to handle on paper. Everything else he did on the computer after he'd gotten the hang of using it.

Keiro and Attia remained in the room, too, though it seemed more like Attia remained in the room, and Keiro didn't want to leave her. She'd taken the seat in front of Finn's desk while Keiro lingered near the window. Casper and Anne had eventually left the room, since nobody seemed up to having a dinner together after the day everyone had. Claudia, Finn, Attia, and Keiro just stayed in the quiet, the four of them far more comfortable with each other now than they'd ever been before.

Interrupting the silence, Vivian had knocked on the door and walked into the office, pulling attention to her. "What are you doing here?" Attia asked, obviously annoyed, as she turned back to Finn.

"You brought me here so I could get more experience at Court in my field," Vivian replied, rather sharply, though she was very aware that the King and Queen were in the room.

"I brought you here to so my father would shut up about you," Attia corrected, and Finn and Claudia couldn't help their laughs. Finn straightened out his face as he looked up at Vivian.

"There's an open room for you on the second floor of the Queen's quarters," Finn told her, as he held her gaze. He was aware of Vivian's desire for a position at Court, and though he had no problem with Vivian there, he'd never given her a potion because Attia couldn't stand her.

"Thank you, Your Grace. I don't mean to be forward, but-"

"Yes, you do," Attia interrupted as she turned back to Vivian with narrowed eyes. "Don't bullshit the King. Isn't there a law for that?"

"Treason," Keiro called out from the other side of the room.

"There you go," Attia said, her gaze still on Vivian. "Wouldn't want to commit treason, would you?"

Vivian stared at Attia, then turned her gaze to Finn, obviously completely unsure of what she should do in the situation. It was Finn who sighed as he looked to her. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I only wanted to know if there's an open position at Court in the Seamstress' Office. I'm a designer, and-"

"He knows," Attia said before Vivian could continue on. "He remembers from the last time you asked him for a job."

"Attia," Finn sighed as he turned to her. Though he appreciated her cutting Vivian's sales pitch, he tried to look like he cared about what Vivian was saying for her sake. As he turned back to Vivian, he wasn't sure what to tell her, since he'd gone through all his excuses by then. "Don't you already sell your work at Court, as it is?"

"Well, yes, but to be located here would do my career wonders."

"Yeah, I bet," Attia commented as she turned up to Vivian. "You'd fit in here, too."

"I can't say I know exactly what you mean," Vivian replied, her voice displaying her very best diplomatic tone.

"I mean you gossiping about what terrible nobility the King keeps for company then begging me to bring you to Court," Attia answered sharply, though Vivian was well aware what Attia had meant.

"I think she knows you don't like her, love," Keiro commented from the far side of the room. He'd turned to watch the exchange, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back against the wall. "You don't have to keep pointing it out."

"Maybe if she thanked me for once, I'd leave it alone," Attia replied, though her gaze was fixated on Vivian.

"Thank you," Vivian said quickly as though the words burned her lips on the way out. She'd turned her gaze to Finn, but he felt as though she was looking away from Attia more so than actually looking at him.

"You have a trash can, Finn?" Attia asked suddenly as she turned away from Vivian to look at the King. He didn't pay her question any attention other than that required of him to hand her the small bin he kept under the table. When she vomited into the can, however, Finn was suddenly very aware of her. Keiro groaned on the other side of the room before he crossed it to hold back her hair again. She finished rather quickly, and by the time she set the bin back down, Vivian was gone from the room.

"Will you go see the Healer now?" Keiro asked impatiently as she wiped her mouth with a tissue Finn passed to her. Claudia had left the desk area because she didn't have the steel stomachs Keiro and Finn did.

"No," Attia answered sharply.

"That's three times in two days," Keiro snapped.

"Are you pregnant?" Finn asked, and was surprised at the response his question got. Both looked at him in shock, eyes wide.

"Please don't be pregnant," Keiro finally said as he looked down at her. She narrowed her eyes at him as she peered up.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you're insane when you're pregnant," Keiro answered simply like it was common knowledge. "It is not physically possible for one man to be wrong as often as I am when you're pregnant."

"Well, apparently it is."


	5. Chapter 5

**Most of you probably caught on already, but I added a title to the beginning of all three of these stories to give them some commonality. Their individual titles did not change though. **

**Secondly, I have to admit that I'm considering another after this one ends, but that'll probably be the last. Let me know what you think!**

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Keiro sat quietly in his seat at the Council table, Attia seated beside him. She was rather involved in the current discussion about the possibilities of the threats as Finn, Claudia, and Attia sorted through them with the help of the Council members and Charles and Mason. Keiro had eventually convinced her to have blood drawn at the Court hospital to test for pregnancy, but they were currently waiting for the results. The wait seemed to affect him more than her, but his silence at the Council table wasn't exactly rare.

"Do we even think the attack was threat related?" Attia asked suddenly as she looked up at Charles. She seemed to recall that Charles hadn't been present at the attack, since her gaze quickly shifted to Mason. "How do we know they weren't just robbing places and thought the Manor would be empty, or at least not hosting a party?"

"And ignore this symbol?" Finn questioned as he pulled the knife from his belt and tossed it to the center of the table. It clattered around on the wooden table top until it finally lost its momentum and remained perfectly still. It was one of the knives Mason had recovered from the bodies of the three attackers, and at the bottom of the blade just above the handle, a small circular symbol was engraved into the steel. The same symbol had been engraved on all the men's weapons and even sewed into some of the clothing.

"It could be some kind of family crest. I don't know," Attia answered sharply obviously annoyed at the current conversation.

"Well, if we could question them, we might've been able to get a few answers," Finn said and Attia turned to him, eyes narrowed.

"When three armed strange men are near your children, Finn, we'll see how long they live," Attia snapped. Keiro added nothing to the conversation, but Finn certainly wasn't blind to the way he tensed up at the sudden turn in the conversation.

"I wasn't blaming you, Attia," Finn replied as he held her gaze. He was obviously trying not to upset her based on his tone and his general attitude towards her, but she was understandably upset at the idea of the men getting that close to her children.

"It sounds like you are," Attia replied, her tone sharp. When Keiro reached over and placed his hand over hers, she drew in a deep breath and leaned further back in her seat. She turned and met Keiro's gaze for only a few seconds before she focused her eyes on the knife in the center of the table again.

"Nobody recognizes this symbol?" Claudia questioned as she peered up at the seven members of Council. There were supposed to be ten, but three positions were currently empty after a string of recent retirements. After those men had retired, nobody currently on Council was the same from the Council Finn had some ten years ago. In fact, of the seven filled Council positions, three were women chosen by Claudia and Attia.

"It could be anything," one of the men on Council commented after he'd reached over to pick up the knife by the handle. "It could a mark of the maker, or a city's symbol. I don't think there's any way to really narrow it down."

Silence fell around the table, and Attia could feel eyes starting to turn towards her, though she kept her gaze focused on the table top. She felt Keiro's fingers intertwining with hers. Which probably meant he could see everyone starting to look towards them as well. Before anybody spoke again, three soft knocks landed on the door before a messenger slipped into the room.

"Yes?" Finn asked as he peered up at the boy.

"The Healer has sent for Lady Attia," he said simply. Attia turned to the boy at the sound of her name and watched him until he turned to leave the room after Finn waved him away. Keiro stood up first, prompting Attia to do the same. Without saying anything further, the two left the room and shut the door behind them.

"What are we supposed to do with another kid?" Attia finally asked after she and Keiro had walked down a few hallways in silence.

"We don't know that you're actually pregnant," Keiro pointed out, but both were aware his argument was thin at best.

"Ok, and if I am, hypothetically, what would we do?" Attia replied, rolling her eyes at Keiro's difficulty.

"I don't know," Keiro answered finally. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"We'd have to make up the nursery again," Attia commented, as though she hadn't heard Keiro's response at all. "And get another nanny to stay with the baby. And another guard."

"You want a guard for a baby?" Keiro questioned and Attia stopped walking as she narrowed her eyes and looked up at him.

"You can make it sound like I'm crazy all you'd like, Keiro. After what happened at the Manor, you'd better be damn sure I want the baby to have its own guard."

"Fine," Keiro replied as he put his hand on the small of her back to encourage continuing walking down the hallway. He understood her concerns and had no desire to argue with her about them. During Attia's first pregnancy, he'd no idea how to handle himself in regard to her and her raging hormones. When she was pregnant with Kyra, he'd figured out how to better speak to her and keep her happy, so by her third possible pregnancy, Keiro was quite talented at knowing which conversations were best left at letting her have her way. For example, anything that had to do with the safety of the child, Attia won hands down.

"And we'd have to start another trust fund and move all the money around," Attia continued.

"Can we just wait until we get the results?" Keiro asked suddenly, even though they were at the doors of the hospital. Attia rolled her eyes at the request as she strode into the hospital.

The main Healer, who saw to the health of all the royal family members, was in the front room of the hospital when the pair walked in, and quickly guided them to a private room.

"Here are the results," he said simply, aware that Keiro and Attia didn't like the extra small talk that Anne and Claudia preferred. He handed over a folder of pages to Attia, who quickly took it and opened it to the front page. "Congratulations," he told them after each had enough time to find the positive pregnancy result. She'd started smiling right away, even though she was well aware that she and Keiro had planned on not having any more children beyond the three they had already.

For the rest of the day, Keiro and Attia seemed to disappear from the dealings of Court. Finn knew they'd probably retreated to their room, where he left them alone figuring they'd come out again when they felt like it. He also hadn't inquired into the results of Attia's pregnancy test, because he felt it was something they would reveal when they wanted to. At the same time, he knew the only reason they would disappear like they had was if it was a positive result. It seemed Claudia and Anne had figured that much as well.

"Maybe they'll have another girl," Anne speculated as she helped Claudia set the dinner table in Finn's private office. After Claudia finished setting down the final plate, she peered up at Anne. The Princess was smiling brightly at the prospect, though she was the only royal woman to not have a daughter. Claudia recalled the way Anne had doted on both Charlotte and Kyra when they'd been born. She didn't doubt for a second that Anne would do it all over again with Attia's new daughter, if she had one.

"Well, we certainly don't need any more boys running around here," Claudia replied. The two women shared a laugh, both oblivious to their husbands' responses. Casper didn't really care for the speculation on Keiro and Attia, while Finn would've rather keep discussion on the two to a minimum. He wasn't as comfortable talking about them the way Claudia and Anne were, but that might've been by virtue of his gender.

"Did they say if they're coming to dinner?" Anne asked curiously as she turned to where Finn was finishing up his work for the day. After he filed the last piece of paper on his desk, he looked up at the women standing around the table.

"No, I haven't seen them since the Council meeting," Finn told them as he crossed the room. Now that their children were older, the six were able to return to their group dinners, which were now a nightly occurrence, unless one couple had escaped for a night alone together. Of course, with Attia's impending pregnancy, that might change again with Attia caring for another small child, and Keiro following her around.

"Is something wrong, Finn?" Claudia asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. He shouldn't have been surprised that she could see the stubble change in his attitude, yet he found he was surprised she noticed anyway.

"It's nothing," he assured her as he smiled and leaned over to press his lips to her cheek. She held his gaze for a moment longer, but didn't linger on the thought since Anne had Casper had taken their seats at the table. Claudia sat on the other side of Anne, pulling Finn to have him sit beside her. Within a few minutes, the servers let themselves into the room, Keiro and Attia following in behind them.

After they'd taken their seats and all the food was served, the servers filed out of the room and Keiro and Attia started to eat, well aware the other four had been expecting some kind of news. Only Casper started to eat as well, but Claudia, Anne, and Finn stared at Keiro and Attia. The three watched as Keiro reached forward to grab the pitcher of water in the center of the table, passing the bottle of wine. He poured the water in Attia's glass before he poured his own glass and set the pitcher back in the center of the table.

"You're pregnant," Claudia announced and Finn sighed as he turned to look at Claudia. She knew he wanted her to not get too involved in Attia and Keiro's personal affairs, but it was too late for that. Turing back to the two, Finn, who showed some annoyance at Claudia's outburst, was interested nonetheless.

Keiro eyed the two, then looked at Anne, before he returned his attention to his plate of food. Attia had simply continued with her meal as though she hadn't heard anything at all. After so many years of being around them, Claudia knew they could avoid talking about any topic for as long as they wanted, but she could be just as stubborn.

"I think you should have your nursery painted green this time," Anne put in, seeming to take their lack of response as confirmation of Claudia's comment. "We've had so many blue and pink nurseries, I think it'd be nice to have a neutral one."

"And we should look into getting a new nanny for them," Claudia added as she turned to look up at Finn. "Because Kyra, Chris, and Finn's nanny is great but they're comfortable with her, and it'd be easier for the new baby to have their own nanny."

"I told you coming to dinner with them wasn't going to be worth the food," Keiro said, obviously speaking to Attia, but he kept his attention on his food.

"I like good food," Attia replied simply.

"We could've had the kitchen send us food."

"Then you go back to the rooms and wait for your food, and I'll stay here and eat," Attia answered, setting down her fork to turn and look up at Keiro. He eyed her for a moment before he turned away, but not before a smile could flash and disappear.


	6. Chapter 6

Claudia and Anne had invited Attia to spend the morning with them, but she'd declined in favor of working in her office. Rather than actually work on anything for Finn, however, she was finalizing paper work to open a new trust fund for the baby she was now carrying. When she'd finished, she gathered all the paperwork into the folder she used for all of her and Keiro's personal paperwork. Tucking it under arm, she stood from her desk and pushed the chair in before she started walking towards the door. It was a short walk to Finn's office, but she stopped in the doorway the second she saw who else was in the office with Finn.

Keiro stood off to the side of the desk, but on Attia's side of the desk, Vivian was standing beside another woman. Attia could see only the side of her face, but the dark haired woman beside Vivian was unmistakably Lady Morgan. Attia eyed the two women for a second before she continued into the room, eyes focused on Finn.

"It's not what you think," Finn said as Attia reached his desk and set her folder on the top.

"How do you know what I'm thinking?" she questioned as she produced all the pages that needed signatures.

"I don't, but I know for sure it's not what's going on here," Finn answered, somewhat unsure how Attia would handle Morgan's presence. Keiro didn't seem to mind at all, and Finn thought maybe he should trust Keiro's judgment on the matter. Keiro did know both women better than Finn did.

"I need your signature," Attia told him as she picked up a pen and handed it to Finn.

"For what?" Finn asked, even though he was already half way through scribbling his name across the bottom of the top page.

"To open another trust fund," Attia answered before he started signing the second page. Finn only nodded, taking her answer as official confirmation of her pregnancy. Last night at dinner, neither she nor Keiro had actually given a definite answer about whether or not she was pregnant. "I need yours too, Keiro," she added after she collected Finn's signatures and turned to the final page.

Keiro only nodded and stepped towards the desk, taking the pen Finn held out for him. "How much are you taking out of my account?" he asked curiously, not that he really cared at all. Attia kept a much better watch on their personal finances than he.

"Enough," Attia answered, aware that Morgan and Vivian were standing nearby and could hear the entire conversation regardless if they were pretending not to. After she collected the signatures she needed, she pushed the papers back into the folder and peered up at the two other women. Morgan was avoiding her gaze, though Vivian watched Attia.

"I have my first customer here at Court," Vivian declared, and Attia only nodded as she held Vivian's gaze. "This is Lady Morgan, and I'm designing her wedding gown."

"Her wedding gown?" Attia repeated, one eyebrow lifting above the other. She turned away from Vivian to look at Finn, then Keiro, neither of whom had anything to say on the matter. It seemed Vivian was oblivious to who exactly Morgan was in relation to the three standing on the other side of the King's desk.

"Yes," Vivian answered.

"Then what are you doing in here? With her?" Attia asked, eyes narrowed.

"I don't have an office at Court," Vivian replied.

"And you think the King's office is up for grabs?" Attia questioned.

"No, he said you would know where an empty office is available for me to use."

"Fine," Attia responded as she turned to look at Keiro, her eyes passing over Morgan rather quickly. "Can you take those down to the vault manager, and have him transfer all the money?" she asked as she handed over her folder to Keiro. He nodded as he took it from her. She slipped passed him to walk around the desk and motioned for Vivian and Morgan to follow her. "One of the King's property mangers is on leave at his summer home, so you can use his office," she explained after the three had left the King's office. Vivian walked right beside Attia, while Morgan hung behind a few steps.

As they walked down the hallway, Vivian noticed they were going towards Attia's office. When they got there, Attia unlocked the door and went to her desk, while Vivian and Morgan waited near the door. Attia pulled open one of the drawers on her desk and retrieved a key, before she shut the drawer again.

"Attia, did you want-" Claudia started as she knocked once on the open door and stepped into the office. When she noticed Vivian and Morgan, she paused and looked at the two women before she turned to Attia on the other side of the office.

"Your Majesty," Morgan said as she dropped into a curtsey in front of Claudia. Vivian had only lowered her head, aware that Claudia didn't mind an occasional lack of formality.

"Lady Morgan," Claudia replied as she looked at Morgan. "I was unaware you returned to Court."

"I wanted to hire a designer from Court, Your Grace," Morgan answered as she lifted her gaze to Claudia.

"Vivian is designing her wedding gown," Attia explained as she crossed the room, key in hand. Claudia turned to Attia in shock, but Attia passed her to leave the office. Claudia followed her, Vivian and Morgan trailing behind.

"Her wedding gown," Claudia repeated, though it was more of a comment than a question. Attia glanced over at Claudia but said nothing as they continued down the hallway. When they reached the office meant for Vivian, Attia unlocked the door and motioned for Vivian and Morgan to step into the room. She and Attia remained near the door way as Attia handed over the keys to Vivian.

"Lock the door on your way out. Don't break anything, and if you move anything put it back," Attia told her. Vivian only nodded as she took the keys from Attia and pocketed them. Before either Vivian or Morgan could say anything, Attia and Claudia left the doorway and continued back down the hallway.

"Well, I came to ask you if you wanted to come to lunch with Anne and I," Claudia said after they'd taken a few steps away from the office given temporarily to Vivian.

"Sure," Attia answered, seeing no reason not to. She'd already taken care of the finances she needed to for the day. Though she had other work she needed to complete for Finn, he was never too demanding as to when the work got done, only that it got done within a timely manner. Besides that, Attia had some amount of pull on Finn that often resulted in her work load constantly shifting to accommodate how much work she felt like doing. Truthfully, it wasn't so far a stretch to think Claudia and Attia could take over the entire Realm if they so wanted given their pull on the King.

They walked to the rooms of Court Claudia held control over as Queen. As they walked through the first room, Attia noticed a number of young women working on their embroidery or some other feminine pass time Attia never had the patience or the mental capacity to do. A few were reading, others sketching near the window, but Claudia's ladies in waiting were more or less only present to keep some tradition. The Queen didn't really need any of those women, though some of them certainly had some talents that came in handy. Of all the young women the two passed, Attia only recognized two, and they were the two who held positions on the King's Council. They were a bit older than the rest of Claudia's ladies in waiting, but that hardly made any difference. Additionally, they answered more to Attia than to Claudia simply because Attia was present at the majority of Council meetings where Claudia wasn't. In essence, they were in Claudia's household only in name.

In one of the rooms Claudia led Attia through, a table was set up near the window. Anne was already seated, a cup in her hand, as she spoke with one of her ladies. When the girl noticed Claudia and Attia enter the room, she made her curtsey and escaped the immediate space of the table to make room for the other two women.

"I hear Morgan is back at Court," Anne commented right away as Attia and Claudia took seats around the table. Attia rose an eyebrow as she eyed Anne but said nothing as she poured herself a glass of water. The servers weren't far behind and had begun to serve the three rather quickly.

"Only to have her wedding dress designed," Claudia finally explained as she held Anne's gaze. "By Vivian."

Anne laughed as she turned back to Attia, who still had not gained a taste for gossiping. "I can't imagine you're a fan of that interaction."

"I'm not concerned," Attia replied simply. It wasn't exactly ideal for Vivian and Morgan to be speaking to each other, given their separate relationships to Attia, but Attia simply had other things to concern herself with. Like her pregnancy.

"I suppose it's been a while," Anne said. "I wonder who she's marrying."

"She didn't say, and I didn't ask," Attia replied with a shrug. "Do you know if Charles is at Court today?" she asked suddenly as she narrowed her eyes. She was still looking at Anne, but after realizing Anne wouldn't know, she shifted her gaze to Claudia.

"I think so," Claudia answered before taking a bite of her lunch. "Why?"

"I wanted to ask him about private security for the Primstone Manor," Attia explained. "I know he'll send Knights to escort my father and Claire back to Primstone, but I think I want a few men to stay behind with them for a little while."

"I'm sure Charles will know someone," Claudia replied. It was somewhat over protective to have a few paid men watch a Manor housing an old aging couple, but Anne and Claudia understood if the entire incident still had Attia shaken up a bit. Especially since Attia's children had been so close to danger, Claudia and Anne made no comments about Attia's protectiveness.

They'd gotten through about half of their lunch before one of Claudia's ladies knocked on the door and slipped into the room quickly. Peering up, Attia saw it was Sophie, one of the women on Council. "Your Majesty," she said as she bowed her head to Claudia. When she looked up again, her gaze focused on Attia. "The King has summoned Attia for an emergency Council meeting."

Attia only nodded as he took another sip of her water and set the glass down. As she rose to her feet, she glanced over at Sophie, a woman who was in her late twenties. Of the three women in Council, Attia liked Sophie best simply because the blonde knew to be direct with her. "Did he say why?" Attia asked curiously as she followed Sophie out of the room. Sophie shook her head as she turned to met Attia's gaze. Sophie was only a few years younger than Attia, but Attia had more experience at Court than Sophie did. It was by a stroke of luck that Sophie had come to be part of Court politics, but Attia certainly enjoyed having Sophie around, as did Finn.

"He only sent a messenger with your summons," Sophie explained. She never called Attia by her title, another thing Attia rather liked about her. As they passed through the other rooms of Claudia's household, Attia realized the other Councilwoman had already left the rooms. The pair walked quietly to the Council meeting hall, which was already filling up at a rather quick pace. Finn was seated in his seat at the head of the table, with one empty seat to his left for Attia. Since he hadn't also sent for Claudia, Attia assumed he hadn't sent for Keiro either. Sophie took her seat while Attia continued across the room to take hers next to Finn.

After the last Councilmember came into the room and sat down, the table fell quiet and turned in Finn's direction. Attia held her gaze on the other Council members, who obviously were unaware of the circumstances of the sudden meeting.

"I've gotten a marriage request for John to marry Princess Avery of the Mallery Kingdom," Finn said simply. Attia felt the shock of the announcement register across her face until she straightened out her expression. The Mallery Kingdom was to the west of the Realm, but had never really posed any kind of problem. The Mallery King had never opposed Finn as monarch, nor had he objected to Claudia as Queen. Perhaps only some five years ago, Mallery had suggested an alliance with the Realm, and after Finn had agreed, nothing had come of it.

"How old is she?" One of the older men of Council asked. Though he was older in comparison to the other Council members, he was barely any older than Finn and Attia, and certainly was far younger than the men of Council from the early years of Finn's reign.

"Seven," Finn answered. "A year younger than John."

"Why are we talking about this?" Attia finally asked as she turned to Finn. He could tell the idea of an arranged marriage for political reasons was a ridiculous notion to her, but he didn't really blame her for that.

"It's not the marriage part, I want to talk about," Finn answered her. "The Mallery Royal family wants to come for a visit to discuss the marriage."

"No," Attia said simply and Finn sighed before he turned back to her again.

"Why?"

"I don't want to play host to a bunch of royals, Finn. We already have Casper for that. Not to mention their army, and their servants, and their horses. Why can't a royal person travel lightly?"

"Yes, it would take some rearranging of Court to accommodate them," Finn replied, deciding only to respond to her initial worry. Attia's personal opinions were always considered, but Finn had gotten rather talented at pulling them out from her political opinion and treating them separately. "But that we can manage. We'll just open up Claudia's rooms and house all her ladies in the east wing."

"Next to me?" Attia questioned.

"I could put Claudia's father next to you," Finn replied and Attia actually smiled at his hidden threat.

"Yeah, alright," Attia laughed as she nodded and turned away from Finn. "Just arrange them carefully then. Don't put the annoying ones next to Kyra or she won't sleep at all."

"Does this mean we've already decided to host them?" a Councilman asked and Finn turned back to the other members of Council.

"I don't know," Finn answered.

"You can't just deny the request without a reason," another replied on the other side of the table. "If they are our allies, and you just deny them, there could be a strain on the relationship."

"What do we even need them for?" Sophie questioned. "Yes, they're an alliance on paper, but what have we ever needed them for? What have they needed us for? This is just a ploy to get their daughter on our throne."

"Well, that would strengthen the alliance," Finn commented, though it was more a thought to himself than anything else.

"Finn," Attia scolded as she turned to him with narrowed eyes. "John is eight!"

"I'm aware, Attia," Finn answered, having a feeling her personal opinions were overshadowing her political ones to the point where he couldn't address them separately. "But an arranged marriage isn't always so bad."

"Because Claudia and Casper would've worked out brilliantly," she commented sarcastically.

"Well, I think Claudia and I have worked out fairly well."

"Good, then imprison him for three years and-"

"Attia," Finn said strongly to stop her from continuing.

"You don't know that it would work out at all. They could end up like Claudia and Casper. And then what?"

"I don't know yet, Attia. I have to talk to Claudia about it anyway, and maybe having them here will show how well they'll get along."

"Their eight, Finn! They'll get along fine," Attia replied as she rolled her eyes.

"You don't know that an arranged marriage wouldn't work out," Finn said as he turned away from Attia. She did the same to him.

"A marriage to a Princess won't be questioned by the people," A councilman commented and Attia turned in his direction, eyes narrowed. "I mean, she's royal, therefore deserves the Prince."

"And when he's eighteen and falls in love with the serving maid, she won't be as deserving?" Attia questioned.

"When?" Finn repeated and Attia turned her gaze back to him.

"If," she corrected before turning back to Council. The room remained quiet and Finn sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

"I got your point, Attia," he assured her as she turned back to him. "But I think at the very least, we have to let them come here."

"Fine," Attia agreed with a heavy breath.

"And you have to be nice to them," Finn added and Attia rolled her eyes.

"I don't make promises, Finn, not even to you."

"I'll pay for the remodel of all your houses for each of your children to inherit if you don't attack or offend the Mallery royal family."

Attia wanted to decline the offer, but she was too sensible for that. Finn was exploiting that part of her. He knew it was one of her goals to have bought houses for each of their children's inheritances, which was part of what made her current pregnancy so stressful. Attia was too stubborn and prideful to ask Finn to pay for the houses for them even though he would do so in a heartbeat. For him to pay for them as part of an informal trade still seemed like spending money that wasn't hers, but was ever aware that the child she carried now would need a house as well, not to mention all the cost of raising the child until that point. All that only made Finn's bargain all the more attractive.

"Does that extend to Keiro?"

"Yes," Finn answered sharply, a smile threatening his lips. Even after ten plus years on the Outside, Attia and Keiro had a way of entertaining him in ways nobody else could.


	7. Chapter 7

"You can't be serious," Finn commented as he stared across the room at Claudia. She was seated in front of her vanity table, a brush in hand as she pulled it through her long blonde hair before bed. Finn was standing on the other side of the bed near the closet door after having dressed into his sleep attire.

"Why not?" Claudia responded with less emotion attached to her words as though Finn was over reacting to the idea of betrothing his only son to a girl at the age of eight.

"Because he's eight," Finn answered as he pulled back the covers of their bed and slipped into his side. When they'd first been married, they'd kept with tradition in that Claudia also had her own bedchamber separate from Finn's, but their separate bedchambers weren't maintained for very long.

Claudia paused in her hair brushing to glance over at her husband with a look that only made him feel like he really was over reacting. He reminded himself of Attia's response to the idea to assure himself he wasn't insane. "We we betrothed at a young age," she pointed out and Finn rolled his eyes as he laid back onto his pillow. It was the same argument he'd used against Attia, but only to keep Attia's opinion from dominating the meeting. He agreed with Attia on the matter, but Claudia seemed to disagree.

"I think our situation is fairly rare," Finn finally responded, eyes still glued to the ceiling. He could hear Claudia's brushing resume, her gaze probably returned to her reflection in the mirror. "I mean, what if they don't love each other?" He knew what he sounded like. He sounded like a little girl with fairy dust in her eyes who still believed in the notion of love. Well, Finn didn't think the notion of love was all that ridiculous, but in politics it apparently was.

"I used to think that all the time," Claudia answered as she set her brush down on the table and turned towards the bed. She waited a moment before standing and pushing the chair in, then pulled back the covers and slipped into bed next to husband. She arranged herself to lay on her side facing Finn, but he remained on his back, one arm folded back the hand under the back of his head. "But I liked you, so I thought that even if we didn't love each other, then we could at least be content in our situation."

Finn took a moment to fully comprehend all the pieces of Claudia's response. He had only vague memories of his time before Incarceron, and even his memories from Incarceron were fading after all the years. "So, you would be fine with our son being content his entire life? And that's if he likes her. What if they don't like each other at all? Not even as friends?"

"A political marriage isn't meant for love, Finn," Claudia told him, though he was well aware. He turned his head to look at her, and she moved closer to him, their bodies beginning to touch.

"So that means the possibility of an unhappy marriage should be disregarded?"

"No, of course not," Claudia replied. Again, she moved closer to him, since Finn remained laying where he was. When she moved closer still, he wrapped one arm around her but still hadn't made any other movements. "And if they don't like each other, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily have an unhappy marriage. They just might not be happy with each other."

"Are you serious right now?" Finn questioned as he withdrew his arm from her shoulders to push himself up to his side and turn to look down at her. The surprise across his face was clear, but Finn had never tried to conceal his emotions from Claudia anyway.

"Well, what do you think Casper and I would have done if I hadn't found you?" she answered, sounding slightly defensive. "We certainly would not have been faithful to each other, but we might've been content still."

"And you would be fine with that for our son?"

"That's not what I said, Finn," Claudia answered as she reached forward and pressed her fingers to his cheek. She smoothed her palm to his skin and moved her fingers across his temple then through his hairline. As she moved her fingertips to his face again, she smoothed the lines around his eyes, then moved her touches to his lips. By the time she withdrew her hand, all the stress had disappeared from her husband's face and he laid back down beside her. This time, he moved closer to her, his arms moving to encircle her entirely.

"Of course I don't want that for him, Finn, but he's a Prince. He's the heir to your throne. There's a certain amount of danger in that just because some part of his life will always be dictated by his position. Don't you remember when we almost could not be married? What would you have done?"

"I'd only been King for a year," Finn answered, lips pressed into her neck as he spoke. "I didn't know what to do. If anybody tried to tell me I couldn't be with you now, Keiro, Attia, and I would just go giggling all the way to the war front."

Claudia smiled brightly at his answer, though he couldn't see it. "I think you have to accept that John may not be able to choose his bride in his own right when the time comes," Claudia said. "But for our current situation, you either make the betrothal and risk an unhappy marriage, or don't make the betrothal and risk having a tenuous relationship with Mallery."

"Tell me what to do," Finn finally told her as he pulled away and laid on his back. He pushed his shoulder blades together to stretch, but all the tension remained in his body. When Claudia arranged herself alongside him, he started to relax, but she could still feel his tightened muscles.

"Host the Mallery royal family here and watch their daughter with John for a few days. We'll go from there."

"What about Keiro and Attia?"

"What about them?"

"They don't have enough to pay for a new nanny and for the other three houses they want to remodel," he explained. "They bought Chris' parents house a while back to fix up for him to inherit, plus another for the baby."

"You've tried to buy them houses before, Finn. Attia burnt the deed," Claudia answered and Finn let out a dry laugh, his entire chest shaking with the laugh.

"I know," Finn replied with a heavy breath. Claudia laughed as she pressed herself against him, one hand reaching up to his shoulder. He turned his head towards her, lips pulled up into a smile, which disappeared when she pushed herself up to press her lips to his.

The next morning, Finn lingered in bed, even though he knew he already had work piling up for the day. Since he was always the one to get out of bed first, Claudia lingered with him. Both were still awake, but neither spoke. Claudia eventually rolled over to lay against him, and he smiled as he lifted one arm to wrap around her.

"Did you come to a decision?" she asked softly, her head resting on his chest.

"About John?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to have the Mallery family come and stay for a few weeks and decide then," Finn answered as he turned his head towards her.

"Why didn't you want them to come to begin with?" she asked curiously. She knew Finn always took her opinion into consideration, but she also knew that he conferred with Attia more often than she.

"Because I just don't like the idea of deciding for him who he'll marry," Finn admitted. "I don't even remember how old I was when we were betrothed. I don't remember anything about it."

"Well, I wasn't at Court back then," Claudia answered, sounding almost guilty that there were still things about his past that she couldn't fill in for him.

"And there's no telling what Attia or Keiro will say to them when they're here," Finn added.

"I think you're over thinking this a little," Claudia told him as she lifted her head up to meet his gaze. She rested her chin on his chest as she smiled at him and he returned the gesture. His hand on her back had started to move, his fingers drawing circles into her skin.

"How long have Keiro and Attia been together?" Finn asked, jumping topics again. Claudia shrugged as she held his gaze.

"I don't know," she said as her eyes narrowed in thought. "You had her announced as Duchess at Casper and Anne's wedding, but were together for a year before that, I think."

"So, ten years?" Finn asked.

"Sure, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"I think I'll put money into the baby's account as an anniversary gift," Finn explained.

"Do they have an anniversary?"

"I don't think so. But Keiro told me once that they first got together at the ball after we repealed Protocol."

"That was more than ten years ago, I think," Claudia replied but Finn only shrugged. "Why don't they just get married?"

"Because they're Keiro and Attia," Finn answered with a laugh. "They'll probably never really get married, not that it makes any difference."

"If it doesn't make a difference, why not just do it?"

"If it doesn't make a difference, why bother with it at all?" he countered.

"Because, there are some people who do see a difference, even if they aren't one of them," Claudia answered with narrowed eyes. Finn only laughed before he shrugged his shoulders.

"Keiro would tell them to just get the hell out of Court."

Claudia laughed mostly because she could easily picture Keiro doing just that. It was remarkable really, how little Keiro and Attia had changed, yet they were accepted by nearly everyone at Court. The pair eventually rolled out of bed and dressed for the day, though Claudia decided to accompany Finn to his office when she usually went with Anne. As expected, several people were already waiting in Finn's office, Attia among them.

"What's that?" Finn asked curiously as he took the paper Attia held out to him before he even sat down behind his desk. Claudia stayed with him but stood off to the side of his chair.

"Finalizing the new account," she answered. Finn nodded as he scribbled his name across the bottom. Before he handed it back to her, he peered up and met her gaze.

"How long has it been since we officially ended Protocol?" he asked curiously. Attia narrowed her eyes at him, as though she knew exactly why Finn was asking.

"Why?"

"I'm just curious."

"You're never just curious," she accused as she took the paper from the top of his desk and folded it before placing it in her folder.

"Ten years, or eleven?"

"Does it matter?" Attia answered, and he was certain she'd caught on to why he'd asked.

"Should we just start counting from Casper and Anne's wedding?"

Attia didn't respond, and simply just turned and walked away. Before she left the office, she heard Finn laugh, but he made no attempt to force her to answer the question. Why he was interested in how long she and Keiro had been together was beyond her.

After leaving the office, she continued down the hallway and turned a few corners until she made it to her office. She unlocked the door and shut it behind her, her fingers turning the lock again. As she turned towards her desk, however, she paused then continued forward.

"You got out of bed early this morning," Keiro commented. He was seated in her chair, his legs up on the edge of her desk, his arms folded back behind his head.

"Got sick," she answered as she set her folder on her desk then walked around to the other side. "Get your feet off my desk," she told him as she pushed on his ankles until his feet dropped to the floor, giving her access to her drawers.

"Better now?"

"Yes, I went to the kitchen for some tea." She didn't turn to look at him as she continued looking through her drawer until she retrieved a paper folder with a label attached to the front. Bent over the desk with a pen in hand, she filled out the label before putting the document Finn just signed inside the folder.

"What's that?"

"Opens the new account to each of us, so we can both add or remove funds," she answered automatically as she sealed the folder and set it down on the center of her desk. Then she turned back to Keiro finally, who still had his arms folded back behind his head, a smirk across his face. "Get out of my chair."

"That's a little demanding."

"It's a lot demanding," she replied sharply, and Keiro's smirk grew, but it looked a little more smug than entertained.

"What do I get out of it?" he asked her, one eyebrow raising, and she knew what it was he wanted.

"Really, Keiro?" she questioned as she tilted her head. He only shrugged as he let one arm fall down from the back of his head. He reached out to put his hand on her hip, his fingers sliding quickly under the hem of her blouse to touch her bare skin.

"Why not? You already locked the door."

"You think sitting in my chair, in my office, will get you sex?"

"It's worked before," he pointed out, and suddenly Attia could not longer keep the straight look across her face. When that happened, Keiro's smirk shifted into a genuine smile as his other hand reached for her hip as well. It took little effort on his part to get Attia to straddle his legs on the chair, their lips finding each other quickly.

"I hate when you steal my spare key," she told him breathlessly as his lips moved along the curve of her neck.

"I didn't take your spare key," he answered against her. He lifted her up to set her on the edge of her desk before he continued his kisses along her neck and collar bone.

"Then how'd you get in?" she replied as she turned to look at him, forcing him to pull from her neck.

"It wasn't locked," he told her before he kissed her lips. She kissed him back, her arms around his neck as his fingers worked all the buttons of her blouse.

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't," he answered, obviously annoyed at the conversation she wanted to keep while he was trying to focus on something else entirely. Attia seemed to figure that out, since she said nothing further on the subject and let Keiro push her unbuttoned blouse off of her shoulders. She'd also managed to get his shirt half way off before they were interrupted by the door opening on the other side of the room.

"Sorry," Finn mumbled rather quickly as he tried to escape the office, but paused when he heard something clatter against the wall beside the door. Slowly, he peeked back into the office, where Attia had already pulled her blouse up and buttoned a few buttons, though she wore a shirt underneath it anyway. Keiro was unashamedly undressed. When Finn looked down, he saw the remnants of a stapler one of the two had thrown across the room to get his attention.

"Fix the lock on my door," Attia demanded and Finn just stared at her, like he didn't know what to say.

"You have a lock," he finally answered as he reached around the door to click the lock, only to realize it didn't actually do anything on the edge of the door. "I'll call maintenance," he added when he looked up at the pair, but then quickly diverted his eyes again.

"What is wrong with you?" Keiro blurted suddenly, and Attia let out a laugh, but said nothing. "You never had a sex on a desk before?"

Finn stared blankly at Keiro, eyes wide, until Keiro rolled his eyes and looked away from the King to find his shirt on the ground. "Anyway," Finn said as he turned his eyes to Attia. Now that she'd finished buttoning up her blouse, she looked like nothing had happened at all. "I sent a messenger to Mallery, and they should be here within a few days."

"Who?" Keiro asked as he turned to look down at Attia, who only held Finn's gaze.

Finn, however, looked away from Attia to peer up at Keiro again. "And how long as it been since we removed Protocol?" he asked curiously.

"Eleven and a half years," Keiro answered quickly and Attia turned to look up at him, a look of sheer disbelief across her face.

"Thank you," Finn said as he turned and left the office, pulling the door shut behind him.

"I can't believe you've been keeping count," Attia finally commented later that day when she and Keiro walked to Finn's office for dinner. When he'd answered the question earlier, he'd hadn't fully grasped the full meaning behind the question, but Attia hadn't said anything about it either until that moment.

"It's not keeping count," Keiro answered, though he was fully aware he was fighting a losing battle. "It's just keeping track."

"What's the difference between keeping count and keeping track?" she questioned as he opened the door to Finn's office and let her walk in first. The office was already cleared of everyone except Finn, Claudia, Casper, and Anne, but Attia wasn't really paying attention.

"Does it even matter?" Keiro answered as he glared down at the back of her head. "Besides, I bet you anything, Casper and Finn know the exact day they got together with Anne and Claudia."

"Are they keeping count or keeping track?" Attia asked and Keiro shut his eyes tightly as he held back a biting remark. He took in a deep breath as he crossed the room towards the dinner table, well aware the other four in the room could hear the entire conversation. Rather than answer her at all, Keiro sat down and reached for the bottle of wine in the center of the table. "What are you doing?" she questioned as she tried to grab the bottle from his hand but he moved it away before she could.

"I'm having a glass of wine," he answered sharply.

"You can't."

"No, you can't," Keiro clarified as he managed to splash some into his glass before Attia pulled the bottle from him.

"That's not fair."

"I think it's plenty fair," he answered sharply as he turned to meet her gaze. "You're pregnant and I'm not."

"You think I got pregnant all by myself?"

"Kyra and Finn act enough like you for me to believe it," he muttered as he turned away from her. Attia had heard the comment perfectly but said nothing since she'd already confiscated his wine.

"So what's going on?" Anne asked since the pair seemed to have ended their argument-like conversation.

"Nothing," Attia answered as she turned her gaze away from Keiro to look across the table at Anne. The other woman rose an eyebrow as she studied Attia, then turned to Keiro, but decided on reaming quiet. Conversation picked up between the other four while Attia and Keiro remained quiet, one or the other speaking when addressed, but never to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

Attia paused her usually duties in the finance department to help Finn oversee all the preparations for the coming of the Mallery Royal family. As soon as Finn had received word that they were beginning their travels, he arranged for Charles and three squads of his best men to escort them to Court from the boarder. Out of sheer protectiveness, Finn also assigned one Knight to each of the royal children. In addition, Keiro, Attia, Anne, and Casper each were assigned a Knight as well, while Finn and Claudia warranted two each at Charles' insistence. Out of familiarity, Attia requested Mason as her Knight but also had to approve of the three assigned to her children.

Only Anne had commented that Attia seemed not to care who shadowed Keiro all day, but Attia and Keiro dismissed it. Attia only wanted Mason because she was familiar with him and comfortable with him. She also wanted to approve of her children's guards because her children absolutely depended on them for protection. The same could not be said for Keiro, who would hate whoever shadowed him no matter what. So, really, Attia's lack of attention to the matter went completely unnoticed.

"Can you reach that?" Attia asked curiously as she looked up at falling line of lights attached to the wall of Court in the garden. Mason only nodded as he stepped towards it and reached up. He easily could reach the string of lights and after some doing managed to reattach them into their correct position. "Thank you," Attia said as he stepped back from the wall to return to her side. She didn't mean to treat Mason like an on hand assistant, but it was just easier to have him do some things she was physically incapable of doing herself. And Mason, ever the proper gentlemen, had never seemed to mind doing little things like that anyway. Mason would do anything Attia or her children asked of him, and that was part of why Keiro didn't mind him so much anymore. It was a fairly common sight to see Kyra leading Mason out of the gardens behind Court, a bundle of flowers and pretty weeds tucked into one arm, his other always free should he need to pull his weapon or snatch Kyra up quickly.

"I think it looks good," Mason commented as he surveyed the lights set up around the outer walls. It was still daylight out, so they wouldn't know how effectively the lights would light up the gardens at night, but it was the best Attia could do. She nodded in agreement as she led the way back to the courtyard that connected the gardens and Court.

As they walked down the hallways, Attia scanned the list of things that needed to be done. Whenever she felt Mason tug on her arm, she followed in his direction, since he knew where she meant to go. "You'll walk into a wall one day, you know," he commented as he opened the door to Claudia's rooms. Attia laughed as she stepped through the doorway and tucked her folder under her arm.

"That's what you're for," she answered as she continued across the room, Mason following behind her. In the first room, the furniture had already been rearranged to make the room into a formal seating area. The bookcases were moved to mirror each other in the corners, while the chairs and couches were moved to the center of the room to circle around the low table in the middle. None of Claudia's ladies were present in the room since it did appear completed, so Attia continued through to the hallway.

The women in Claudia's household were moving quickly, some carrying small items to remove them from the rooms altogether while others were moving decorative items from one room to another.

"Sophie," Attia called as she spotted the woman passing into one of the rooms. The woman turned at the sound of her name and noticed Attia and Mason.

"Yes?"

"Have you moved into the spare room next to my rooms?" Attia asked curiously.

"Almost," Sophie answered with a nod. "I only have a few things left to move after I finish helping the Queen with these rooms."

"Who is in the room next to you?" Attia asked quickly before Sophie could continue her task.

"Vivian," Sophie answered and Attia only nodded and led Mason through the next room. Claudia's ladies in waiting were rearranging the room into a bedroom of sorts and were decorating all the shelves as well. Attia continued through the rest of the rooms to see that most of Claudia's rooms had already been successfully converted. In one of the last rooms, which would become the bedroom to the foreign King and Queen, Attia found Claudia and Anne speculating over how to go about changing the room. Their combined three guards were standing against the far wall of the room looking rather bored with their current job.

"We should move your old bed in here," Anne commented as she motioned with her hands to the large empty space. Claudia's bed from the short period she and Finn kept separate rooms used to be in that room, but Claudia had long ago had it removed to create a sitting room for her and her ladies. "And we can use the nice sheets you and Finn have in your chest."

"Are there any nicks on the bed frame?" Attia asked as she turned to the other two women. Claudia turned to her while Anne kept her gaze forward to continue envisioning the completed room.

"Shouldn't be," Claudia answered.

"I'll have the cleaning crew check if it needs paint," Attia said as she nodded. Claudia nodded as well in agreement but said nothing before turning towards the room again. "We should also have the dressers moved in here, too," she added.

"I'll take care of it," Claudia replied. "Did you finish the garden?"

"Yes," Attia answered with a nod. "But we won't know until tonight how well the lights work."

"Are you really ok with betrothing John so young?" Anne asked suddenly, but Claudia did not answer right away. Claudia and Attia, who were far more involved in politics than Anne ever would be, had not spoken to each other on the topic, yet Claudia instinctively knew Attia's position on the matter. Claudia turned to Anne slowly, her face straight, though she wouldn't have guarded her face so closely if the three women were completely alone.

"I don't know, yet," Claudia answered. Anne held her gaze for a moment or two before she nodded at the response. "I think we'll just wait to meet them and see after that."

"I can't imagine Chase marrying at all," Anne admitted. It wasn't so far a stretch for Claudia and Attia to think of Anne as a mother who never pictured her baby growing up at all. She basically proved that with such a comment. Claudia and Attia were too realistic to every keep such illusions, even if they were realistic in very different ways. For example, Claudia didn't understand the need for Keiro and Attia to teach their son Finn how to throw knives. Granted, the knives were always dull, and nobody was ever in danger around the boy, but Claudia did not understand how a skill could be useful for a boy fated to be the next High Duke.

Finn, her husband, however, understood exactly why the two wanted all their children to know such things. It was because of something even years on the outside had not striped of the three. It was a sense that at any time they could be attacked and raided, and the difference between life and death sometimes meant a well placed knife in the attacker. If Keiro and Attia felt a little better that at least one of their children could cause a little harm in an attacker, then Finn would let them be. It was probably only a little soothing to them anyway. Finn had Claudia to remind him how ridiculous he sounded at times when he worried too much about things, but Keiro and Attia only had each other to exacerbate their fears that stemmed from their time on the Inside. Furthermore, Keiro and Attia had spent their entire lives Inside, while Finn only had a short vacation there in comparison. Finn wondered if Attia ever relaxed at all when her children were not in her immediate line of sight.

"Attia, would you ever betroth one of yours?" Anne asked suddenly and Attia turned towards her.

"No," she answered simply. "But, Finn, Chris, and Kyra don't have royal titles like all of yours. I don't think their marriages will ever be political in nature."

It was a diplomatic response, and it made Claudia smile. She didn't need to hear about letting children grow up and make their own choices. Only Attia seemed to understand that Claudia probably already thought that exact line of thought herself.

"Well, Finn might give Chris a title," Anne replied and Attia turned to her suddenly.

"What?"

"You didn't know?" Anne asked curiously as she shifted her eyes to Claudia. The queen only smiled at Anne briefly before turning to Attia.

"Well, not right away, anyway," Claudia explained. "Probably not until he's a lot older. Mostly likely at his wedding."

Attia said nothing, only because she wasn't sure what to say. Most were aware that she and Keiro had never officially adopted Chris, but that he was part of their family nonetheless. He was certainly treated that way, and that would likely not change until he was older. When Finn becomes of age and is able to use his inheritance, Chris will legally not have that. With a title bestowed upon him by the King, however, he could be made equal to Finn and Kyra.

"Are you alright?" Anne asked when Attia remained quiet. "You should sit. You shouldn't be standing all day when you're pregnant, anyway."

"Anne," Attia sighed as she batted away Anne's hands. "I'm fine. I worked through all my other pregnancies."

"Fine," Anne replied in defeat. Attia only laughed before she turned and motioned for Mason to lead the way out of the Queen's rooms.

"Sometimes I forget that you're pregnant," Mason admitted once they'd gotten to the main hallways of Court outside Claudia's rooms.

"Why?" Attia asked, obviously amused by the comment.

"Because you keep working," he answered.

"And I'm not showing yet."

"Yes, well, even when you do, you still work. They only thing you stop is practicing with the Knights," he replied.

"You wouldn't believe what Keiro did to get me to stop doing that during my first pregnancy," Attia responded.

"I can't believe you needed encouragement to stop at all."

"You sound like Finn," she accused and Mason let out a laugh before he opened the door ahead of them for her t pass through. He thought they were headed to her office, but she made an unpredicted turn that lead to another row of offices. When she got to the one she wanted, she knocked on the door and waited for a response before she turned the knob and walked in.

Behind the desk on the far side of the room, Vivian sat with paper laid out across the desk before her. She had a pencil in one hand and scrap of white fabric in the other. All along the table against the wall were scraps of fabric, lace, various beads, and other materials Attia assumed would be going into Morgan's wedding gown.

"Mason," Vivian said in a surprised tone as she glanced up at the two. She smiled at him as she stood up from her seat, her eyes still on him.

"My Lady," Mason replied as he nodded to her, though she held no real title other than that of the High Duchess' step sister.

"Are you almost finished with the office?" Attia asked, only slightly aware of the interaction between the two.

"I don't know," Vivian admitted as she turned her gaze to Attia. "After I sketched Morgan's dress and showed it to the dress maker in the Seamstress' office, she recommended me to another Lady who wanted a gown designed for her anniversary."

"There are no extra offices at Court," Attia told her simply.

"Oh please," Vivian replied, eyes narrowed, and words suddenly in a sharper tone. "There are tons of empty rooms here. You just don't want me around."

Attia drew in a deep breath as she reminded herself to remain calm. The Healers always told her not to be too stressed during her pregnancies, but she always felt like those around her were purposely trying to cause her stress. "Fine," Attia finally replied after a few moments. "Put in an official petition to join the Queen's household as her personal designer."

"What?" Vivian asked.

"If I grant you a place at Court, you'll be in my household, and that won't happen. I suggest you introduce yourself to the Queen again and ask her nicely if she'll add you to her household."

"What about the Princess?" Vivian replied sharply. "You're just better friends with the Queen and she's already got a designer."

"Princess Charlotte hardly needs a designer."

"Princess Anne," Vivian answered, and Attia rolled her eyes.

"Do what you want," Attia replied, though Vivian had been right about her not wanting Vivian at Court.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a simple black dress that no embellishments on it, so she should've been more comfortable than she was. Instead, Attia found herself tugging on the dress near her stomach and around her waist as she waited for Keiro to finish buttoning up his shirt. He must've finished without her noticing, because he appeared in the mirror behind her, a smile on his lips as his hands moved to her waist. She stopped fidgeting to feel him behind her, her eyes closing when he took a half step forward to press his chest against her back.

She couldn't believe she'd forgotten what it was like to be pregnant. Keiro changed so drastically each time she'd been pregnant before, but that'd been years ago. He smiled easily at her, even when they were out in public. He bent to her every whim, but she often gave her entire argument for something anyway. He was just so effortlessly happy to the point where she almost didn't recognize him at the end of nine months. Whenever she'd tried to ask him why he got that way, he'd never give her an answer. By the time Finn was a month old, Attia had come to a conclusion while watching Keiro lean over the boy's crib as though a sleeping infant was the most fascinating thing in the world.

She'd concluded that to Keiro, there was nothing quite like the prospect of a child. A child he'd fathered. A child with all bone and blood and flesh who will grow up like every other child despite the circuitry of it's father. And she wasn't sure she blamed him for that, so she never did bring it up again.

"You look beautiful," Keiro mumbled into her temple before he firmly press his lips against her. She let out a dry laugh but Keiro didn't look up at her. It was a prime example of Keiro's changed behavior. If this was her third pregnancy, it was the third time he'd ever said that to her. He might've managed something almost equivalent after some drinking, but never quite said that specific word.

"We should go," she said as she opened her eyes to find Keiro still resting against her. "They'll be here soon."

"I don't really care," he admitted. It was Attia who broke the embrace when she stepped away from him. Before she could get too far, he'd entangled their fingers and gave her arm a slight pull to get her attention. His other hand reached up to her hair before he kissed her lips. It was the type of kiss Attia never expected. The slow and gentle kind. The kind they'd had countless times before, yet still seemed opposite of Keiro's nature even after eleven and a half years, as he'd so precisely pointed out.

When they finally did make it out of their room, their nanny was creeping out of Kyra's room and slowly pulling the door shut. She smiled and nodded to Attia and Keiro but continued down the hallway to her own room without saying anything. The reason Keiro and Attia liked her so much was that she never needed to be told anything. She was perfectly fine with never making small talk, so Attia made sure she was paid well.

They continued down the hallway until they left the collection of rooms that were official Keiro's household. After one stairwell and a few more hallways, they made it to Finn's office, where he stood with Claudia at his side. Casper and Anne were off to the side, all four in clothing befitting of royalty, where as Keiro and Attia had taken full advantage of their lesser titles in terms of their dress.

"You look like you're going to be sick," Finn commented instantly as his gaze fell onto Attia.

"Thank you," Attia snapped at him, eyes narrowed. "A simple 'nice dress' would do."

Finn rolled his eyes, but smiled, as he turned away from the pair to avert his attention to the man standing nearest to him. He'd taken over Attia's role as Finn's makeshift assistant in the last few days since Attia had been more inclined to lay in bed all day.

"We're ready," the man concluded and Finn nodded as he took Claudia's hand but turned to Attia and Keiro. He nodded at them and Attia nodded back before she turned and started to lead Keiro out of the room. When they started to reach the main ballroom, Keiro slipped his hand into Attia's and she intertwined their fingers. They usually didn't have such public displays of affection, but it was another of Keiro's changes during her pregnancy. Ironically, she must have her own changes as well, since she didn't mind them at all. But as soon as the baby was born, she'd go back to disliking them all the same.

Since the Mallery royal family had not yet arrived, there were no announcements as the six entered the ballroom. The usual lot of Courtiers were present, and Attia had even spotted her father and Claire, which meant Vivian was probably around there somewhere as well.

"They're only a few minutes away," someone informed Finn, who only nodded. The six, made their way to the high table, where the seating arrangement had been changed since all their marriages. Finn and Claudia sat in the center, Anne beside her and Casper on the other side of Anne. Keiro sat beside Finn, and Attia sat on the other side of him. Within the next few minutes, the two main doors of the hall opened up to reveal a large party of well dressed Courtiers, who filed into the room, filling it to the brim.

There were even a number of armed guards, dressed in greens and golds, who filed in around the walls before an announcer stepped through the doors and stood there.

"His Majesty, The King, Logan of Mallery," the man announced in a loud clear voice that nearly echoed in the quiet hall. A man, draped in what seemed to be the finest clothing in the room, stepped forward. "Her Majesty, The Queen, Abigail of Mallery." This time, a woman stepped forward and slipped her arm through the arm the King offered out to her. Where he wore mostly dark greens paired with black, her dress was light green offset with greys, the skirt falling away from her body rather dramatically. The style of the dress was reminiscent of the early years of Finn's reign, when nearly everyone had tried to get Attia into a similar style dress until she finally set one of fire. "And her Majesty, The Princess Avery," the announcer concluded as a girl followed her parents into the large hall, her eyes barely open at the late hour.

Finn stood up from his seat and gave his welcoming speech before he welcomed the other royals to join him in dinner. At the same time, a few men carried in a table from the side door and set it in front of Finn and Claudia's table. Within the minute, the table was set up identically to the entire high table. In addition, the men turned the side tables where Attia, Keiro, Anne, and Casper sat so that it was one large table in the center where all eight could sit. The two foreign royals made their way towards the table, the crowd parting to let them pass, while their daughter was whisked away by someone else.

After they'd taken their seats, the food was brought out and set before each person, followed by all the servers who carried the wine bottles. Without being requested, a server filled each of Keiro and Attia's glasses with water.

"You have a beautiful kingdom," Queen Abigail said with a smile as she held Finn's gaze, then shifted her eyes to Claudia. Since Finn and Claudia were the King and Queen, the four on their sides felt a little less pressure on themselves.

"Thank you," Finn answered, with a smile of his own. "I'm glad you enjoyed your long trip here. I hope the weather was favorable."

"It was," King Logan said rather harshly before he started digging into his food with his fork. Attia had hardly touched her dinner since her stomach had started to turn, a familiar side effect of pregnancy. Keiro seemed to notice, so his hand slipped onto her knee beneath the table. "We've not had a decent meal since we left," he added after shoveling a few forkfuls into his mouth.

Anne said something in response, but Attia wasn't paying attention as she reached forward for her glass of water. She'd lifted it off the table, but hadn't pulled it to her lips all the way when she suddenly stopped moving her arm. Her leg had gone tense under Keiro's hand, so he turned to look at her, confused to see her gaze fixated on King Logan. Finn noticed Attia's behavior as well, but he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible as he looked to her as confused as Keiro was. Then the two seemed to notice it at the same time.

"Attia, you look like you should get some rest," Finn said suddenly, aware that his voice sounded rushed and not at all as calm as he'd intended it. Attia's gaze shot to him suddenly, her eyes hard and cold after she recognized the symbol stitched into King Logan's coat. It was the symbol engraved into the blades of the weapons Keiro and she had fought off at the Primstone Manor.

"Are you alright?" Anne asked sweetly as she turned to Attia as well, her smile going completely unnoticed. All at once, Attia seemed to become the center of attention at the table, though Finn had meant for that either.

Then, Charles started to approach the table, eyes lingering carefully on the King and Queen opposite Finn and Claudia. "Your Grace, there's been a development," Charles said simply as he bent down to say the words quietly in Finn's ear.

"I'm already aware," Finn answered, his voice still not as calm as he wanted it. "Could you escort the Duke and Duchess to their rooms, please, Charles? I'm afraid she's not feeling well tonight."

"Of course," Charles answered with a short nod. It took only a cursory glance in Attia's direction to see it'd taken all her strength to not attack the man seated just beside her for no reason other than the simple design on his clothes. "Your Grace?" Charles asked as he offered his hand to Attia. When she didn't respond, Charles touched her shoulder and squeezed his fingers around her flesh until she turned and met his gaze.

With more grace than either Finn or Charles had expected, Attia stood up from her chair and accepted Charles' hand. Keiro let out a deep breath as he remained seated for another moment, seemingly relieved that Attia had finally gotten up. Before standing, Keiro reached across the table and stole Finn's full wine glass, downing it as he rose to his feet. He set it back on the table before he turned away from the table without so much as meeting the eyes of Finn's visitors.

Finn turned to watch Charles walking on the other side of Attia as the three left the hall through one of the side exits. When Keiro's hand went down to Attia's side, she griped his hand so hard, Finn wondered if Keiro could feel his fingers at all, then was suddenly more grateful than words could describe that Attia's dress could not conceal weapons. Surely, if they could, she would've carried them, and the King seated across from him would be dead right now for so much as scaring her children nearly a month ago.

"Are you kidding me?" Attia's voice echoed down the empty hallway of Court that led to her and Keiro's rooms. Charles was still behind them, intent on getting them all the way to their bedchamber.

"I didn't know, Attia," Charles said, desperately wishing there was a way to comfort her. "If I'd recognized the symbol-"

"And then he has the nerve to show up here?" Attia snapped, stopping Charles mid-sentence. Keiro had reached the bedroom first, leaving the door wide open for Attia and Charles to follow him in. Though they were only a few steps behind him, when they reached the door frame, his jacket was already off and discarded to the floor, his fingers making quick work of the buttons of his shirt. Of course, in his own rage, he'd simply ripped off the stubborn buttons and continued down the shirt until he could pull the shirt off as well.

"I assure you, we will take care of it," Charles said as he held Attia's gaze. Keiro was already half naked on the other side of the room, but if it didn't bother Charles, then it didn't bother Keiro to have Charles there. "Finn would never let something like that slide by."

"I think the least of their worries is Finn," Attia replied sharply.

"Get some sleep, Attia," Charles told her as he reached out and touched her arm. "I'll have some servers send dinner for you both. Please, eat something and get some sleep. And for the love of God, please be here when I get back," he said as he stared down at her. "I'll only be a few minutes, and I'll stay here the entire night. Nobody will get anywhere near Finn, Chris, or Kyra without you knowing, I promise."

Attia drew in a long shaky breath, a kind of breath that only intensified her current state of emotion. She eventually managed a nod before Charles lowered in a bow to kiss the back of her hand. If Keiro didn't mind Mason, he certainly didn't mind Charles, since the two seemed to always treat Attia radically differently than they did either Anne or Claudia.

"Are you ok?" Attia finally asked after Charles had gone from the room. She turned slowly to see Keiro bracing himself against the dresser pushed up against the wall. He'd not said a word since they left the ballroom, but she hadn't noticed that until that moment. "Keiro?" she asked, sounding less mad and more scared, which was more than enough to make him turn to her. He wasn't used to hearing her sound so scared. Attia was fearless. She was scared of nothing except harm to her children. And now that there were possibly hundred of armed guards baring the symbol of the three men than nearly sharmed her children before, Keiro supposed she had a right to sound a little scared.

"Yeah, a little wine helps," he admitted as he pushed off the dresser and crossed the room in five long strides to pull her to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, feeling her body give up responsibility of holding itself up as she molded against him. Only her arms had any strength as they clutched his neck tightly.

"Why were they here so long ago?" she asked desperately, her voice barely loud enough to fill the room, but more than loud enough to fall on Keiro's ears.

"I don't know."

"Why do they want? Why Primstone, of all places?"

"I don't know," Keiro repeated as he shook his head and tried to tighten his arms around her.

"Were they targeting us?" she asked again, well aware that Keiro had no idea and could only repeat his answer to her. Since he seemed to notice she was aware of that, he said nothing as he released her and turned to lead her towards the closet.

She slipped out of her dress and left it on the floor before she went into the closet to retrieve a set of clothes to sleep in. When she reemerged from the closet, two servers had appeared at the door with a rolling tray that had two plates of food. Charles was behind them on the other side of the hallway, his eyes narrowed as he met Attia's gaze. He nodded once before he turned and disappeared from the doorway in the direction of the children's bedrooms. After rolling the food in, the servers left as well and shut the door behind them.


	10. Chapter 10

Attia and Keiro were both awake when Finn's messenger arrived to tell them of the meeting he'd called for that morning. Attia dressed in her usual pant suit and left the room before Keiro had even come back out of the closet. After he'd dressed and discovered her gone, he went down the hallway to Kyra's open bedroom door. Kyra was still asleep, but Attia sat on the bed with her, eyes casted down on the little girl. Gently, Attia pushed back the dark brown hairs that had fallen in front of Kyra's face, before she tucked the falling stuffed animal under her arm as well. Attia peered up at the doorway and smiled weakly at Keiro, who only watched from the doorway. It amazed him how quickly Attia could switch between all her different modes. She could be Finn's perfect political-and-financial advisor, then Keiro's seductive—in all but name—wife, and finally a sweet nurturing mother who packed away a few hidden knives should an threat arise around her children.

As Attia approached the doorway after sliding off of Kyra's bed, Keiro stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door silently shut after Attia. She moved across the hallway to Chris and Finn's shared bedroom to do the same, but it was clear from the noise that the two boys were already awake. This time Keiro joined Attia as they went into the room and sat on the floor with the two boys. They had pulled out a few of their toys and were playing together. As Attia and Keiro joined them, they were quick to assign them positions in their game as well. After a few moments, Attia set down her toy and leaned over to kiss each boy on the forehead before she got to her feet. Keiro promised to come back and finish the game after they were finished with their grownup things before he got to his feet as well.

They walked across Court to get to the Council meeting hall, though there were extra chairs set up around the table. Finn and Claudia were already seated on his side of the table, with Charles on the other side of Claudia. Attia sat beside Finn and Keiro beside her.

"Are you ok?" Finn asked as he turned to Attia. She met his gaze but said nothing before she shrugged.

"I barely slept if that's what you're asking," she replied.

"I added guards to Finn, Chris, and Kyra," Finn told her, deciding not to comment on her response.

"I noticed," she answered as she nodded. He nodded as well before he turned towards the door when he heard it open again. It was Mason who entered the room and took the seat beside Keiro, proving this meeting was not to include Finn's official council, but rather his personal one. Within the next few minutes, King Logan and Queen Abigail entered the room after one of Finn's messengers opened the door for them. Filing it behind them were four of their personal guards and two other men, who carried folders in their arms.

"I didn't expect a formal meeting so soon into our stay," King Logan admitted as he took a seat at the other end of the table. His wife sat on his right while the two non-armed men took seats next to each other on the other side of the King.

"This isn't about your daughter," Finn replied simply as he held the other King's gaze. King Logan rose an eyebrow suddenly but remained quite. Finn said nothing either, but instead turned to Charles, who produced one of the knives from the attackers from beneath the table. He set it on the table in front of the other King before he met the man's gaze.

"Who are these people?" King Logan asked after his gaze landed on the knife, then flicked up to Finn.

"Commander of my Royal Army," Finn answered as he motioned to Charles. "Second in Command," he added as he motioned then to Mason. "The High Duke, The High Duchess, and My Queen," Finn finished, his tone straight and even, his eyes focused on King Logan. "The High Duchess has lands in Primstone, where they often vacation with their children."

"And?"

"That knife was collected from one of three attackers during their last stay there a month ago."

King Logan swallowed as he looked down at the knife again. He leaned forward to pick it up by the handle, his eyes inspecting it as though trying to decide where it had come from. Of course, the symbol on the blade pointed that out rather clearly.

"Why the hell did you have men inside our boundaries a month before you had permission to enter?" Attia demanded suddenly, growing impatient with Finn's approach. If Finn minded that she'd spoken, it didn't show on his face. King Logan peered up at Attia, eyebrow raised as he stared at her as though in shock that a woman had dared to speak to him.

"You cannot deny that symbol belongs to your army," Finn said in tone calmer than Attia's. King Logan's gaze shifted slightly to Finn then, surprise still in his expression.

"They weren't attackers," King Logan finally said.

"Keiro," Finn snapped when he noticed Keiro's mouth opening. Keiro turned to Finn, eyes hard, but Finn held his gaze. While Finn was preoccupied with Keiro, however, he didn't notice Attia between them.

"They weren't attackers?" Attia repeated, tone hard and demanding. "Three armed men looming around my children sounds like attackers."

"Where are they?" King Logan asked, paying no attention to Attia's comment.

"The morgue," Attia answered harshly, forcing King Logan's gaze to remain on her. "That's what happens to anybody who gets that close to my children."

"Is that a threat?"

"No," Finn answered before Attia could, obviously annoyed that he could not control Attia.

"If I was threatening you, you would know," Attia answered, tone still sharp, eyes narrowed.

"Do you know who I am?" King Logan's voice rose as his eyes narrowed and his face contorted into anger.

"I don't give a fuck who you are," Attia shot back and Finn stood up right away, his hand grabbing Attia's arm.

"Enough," Finn told her sharply, but she shook her arm out of his grasp and held King Logan's gaze.

"We are not accountable for what happened to those men," Claudia finally said in her best diplomatic voice. Though Attia's gaze hadn't shifted at all, King Logan turned to Claudia. "Attia is right. You did not have our permission for any of your army to cross our borders. They were trespassing on her lands and they had every right to defend themselves from three armed men. You're free to take their bodies, if you'd like, otherwise they'll be cremated here."

"King Giles," King Logan said, though he still held Claudia's gaze. When he shifted his eyes to Finn, he'd taken his seat and released Attia's arm. "Do you often have women speak for you during your meetings here?"

Finn rose an eyebrow at the question, so genuinely taken back that he didn't know how to respond. "I don't believe they are speaking for me, but for themselves. And we do not draw barriers between men and women at this Council table," Finn finally replied.

The table remained silent as the two Kings stared at each other. Finally, the man seated beside King Logan leaned into him and said something only the two could hear. As King Logan sat up straight again, his eyes shifted to gaze at everyone on Finn's side of the table. "Those men were not instructed to be threatening in anyway. If they were, it was completely accidental, and we apologize for any harm they may have caused."

"Harm?" Attia repeated, before Finn had a chance to respond to the other King. Finn turned to Attia, but she was too focused on King Logan to notice him, then when he shifted his eyes to Keiro, it was clear the blonde would do nothing to restrain her. "Your man almost killed me," she said strongly as she tilted her head up enough for the light to catch the lightening bruises still apparent on her neck. King Logan's eyes lingered on the bruises for only a few seconds before he forced his gaze onto Attia's eyes. Queen Abigail, however, was not very talented at keeping a diplomatic look across her face, which clearly displayed her every emotion. Her horror at the ugly bruises around Attia's neck was no exception.

"Why were they here?" Finn asked since King Logan appeared to have opted out of responding to Attia.

"Simply to watch," King Logan answered, his eyes having shifted to the King seated directly across the long table from him.

"Watch what?" Claudia asked sharply, but King Logan's gaze did not weaver where as his wife's had.

"How things are outside the extension of my power," he replied simply. "They were not to engage except to defend themselves."

"A lot of good that did them," Keiro commented suddenly. Since he'd been silent for the entire duration of the meeting thus far, the sound of an unfamiliar voice pulled King Logan's gaze as well as his wife's and his advisors'. "You'd think three trained and armed men could handle two civilians."

Attia's lips curled up in a smile, as had Claudia's, at the comment, though Finn tried to keep his face as straight as possible. Of course, one look in his direction could prove he was as amused as the women on each side of him.

"Well, needless to say, nobody in my armed forces will under estimate either of you again," King Logan replied, his face hard and still as he took in the hidden insult laced in Keiro's words. "Have we solved the problem, King Giles?" he asked as he turned away from Keiro. Finn stared at the man for a moment before he turned to his left to look at Attia. She saw him turn to her out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her gaze on King Logan. He'd turned to her as well, realizing that she decided if the matter was settled or not, rather than Finn making the decision. When Attia finally nodded twice and turned away to look at Keiro, Finn looked back to King Logan.

"Yes," Finn answered him simply as he rose to his feet. Claudia did the same, linking her arm in his as she stood. King Logan, Queen Abigail, and his advisors did the same on the other side of the table, but Attia remained seated. Since she did not stand, Keiro did not either. The room cleared, Finn and Claudia leaving last but not before meeting Keiro and Attia's gazes. When the door shut behind them, Keiro turned to Attia and reached over to touch her hand on the table.

"Are you alright?" he asked finally, and she only nodded her response.

"Yes," she answered with a nod as she twisted her hand around to push her fingers into his palm. He let her feel around his hand until she intertwined their fingers, her eyes fixated on their joined hands.

"Should we clear out until they leave?" he asked as he watched her. Eventually, she turned her gaze to meet his. She drew in a deep breath before she finally shook her head.

"No, I think we'll stay put for a while," she answered him. He had a feeling there was some other reason for her wanting to stay at Court, but he didn't press her for any other information. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah," he answered with a nod, knowing she wanted to topic to fade away.


	11. Chapter 11

Attia was walking around the training grounds for the Royal Guards with Charles, Mason walking on the other side of her. She'd deserted her work for the day, sending all the unfinished paperwork to Finn's office with a note claiming her morning sickness had gotten the better of her. "I don't know if extra guards will make a difference, Attia," Charles admitted as he turned and peered down at her, though he was careful not to outright deny her request.

"I don't care," she answered, and Charles only smiled at her.

"I'll keep the extra guards on Finn, Chris, and Kyra," he replied as he turned forward and continued walking. Every so often, he turned to watch how the guards were performing during practice, but it was clear most of his attention was on Attia. "And I'll arrange for some of the Guards to travel back with your father and Claire unmarked."

"Unmarked?" she repeated as she turned to the side to watch the drill the guards were running.

"No Royal Guard armor or markings."

"Will you tell Finn?" Attia asked as she turned her attention back to Charles. He rose and eyebrow as he looked down at her.

"I doubt he'd order them to return if he knew," Charles replied. Attia then turned to Mason, who technically shouldn't listen in on all her conversations, but it wasn't as though she didn't expect him to listen anyway.

"If he thought you were concerned enough to even ask for more protection, he'd probably double it," Mason commented.

"While we're under top security details?" Attia questioned as she rose an eyebrow and turned to Mason. He held her gaze, but said nothing in response.

"I'll pull some strings, if you really want me to," Charles promised as he turned fully towards Attia. She turned up to him and nodded twice, before Charles bent down to press an affectionate kiss to her cheek. He rarely did show such signs of affection, but since he'd promised to take extra precautions with her father, she didn't protest to it. Her being pregnant probably helped with that as well, considering she also did let Keiro show affection in public.

"Thank you," Attia told him after he'd pulled back and took one step away from her. A noise from the side then pulled her attention away from Charles. The two men had turned as well, their hands moving instinctively to the handles of their swords at their sides. When the three noticed Keiro walking towards them, they relaxed collectively, but Keiro narrowed his eyes at them.

"Should I go?" he asked cautiously as he narrowed his eyes and met Attia's gaze. He briefly looked to Charles, then Mason, but returned his gaze to Attia. It wasn't too far a stretch to think Attia had secrets with Charles and Mason about some things, but Keiro had never learned the truth to that. The scene in front of him certainly lent that rumor some credibility.

"No, of course not," Attia answered as she flashed a smile in his direction. It lingered longer than it would have if she had not been pregnant. She'd even held out an arm to her and after he took a few more steps towards her, he reached out to put his hand in hers.

"Finn said you were sick," he said as he finally reached her side and tried to kiss her cheek. She'd turned, however, and accepted the brief kiss on her lips before she held his gaze.

"That's what I told him," she confirmed and Keiro nodded.

"So you're not sick?"

"No," she admitted as she turned away from him to watch the practicing guards, as Charles and Mason had. Charles and Mason were still on either side of her, but Keiro remained behind her, his free hand resting on her waist as he peered over her shoulder at the guards as well.

"Why are you hiding out here?" he finally asked, and Attia only shrugged. "Is it because Logan and Abigail would never come out here?"

Attia only laughed as she turned so that she faced Keiro, their hands separating. His hand then went to her waist again so that he almost held her. "I think you're supposed to use their titles when you say their names."

"You're deflecting."

"Yes, they annoy me to no end and I've already considered killing him," Attia answered his original question without any more pressure to do so.

"Attia," Charles sighed as he turned to her. "You aren't supposed to say things like that in front of me. It's a question of ethics."

"Who is going to hear us, Charles?" Attia replied as she motioned around them. On all sides, men of the Royal guard were practing, and the sound of metal swords and shields colliding was more than enough noise to cover their conversation.

"That's not my point."

"Then go turn me in to their guards," Attia challenged. Charles actually smiled at the comment and Mason had even let a dry laugh pass his lips, but neither military man said anything in response.

"Yeah well, you're not the only one," Keiro told her, his voice dropped into a whisper as he leaned forward to press his lips to the shell of her ear. Of course, at least Mason had heard the confession, but he kept his gaze forward as though Keiro had said nothing. Mason's role as Attia's ever present guard wasn't questioned anymore by either Attia or Keiro, simply because they'd both grown to accept and even trust him.

"Are you hungry?" Attia asked as she pulled away from Keiro to look into his eyes. He met her gaze before he nodded. She had started to move out of Keiro's embrace, but had paused when a pain rippled through her. Her free hand had gone to her stomach, where the pain originated from, as she bent over slightly.

"Attia?" Keiro questioned, his voice clearly carrying his fear and worry. Mason and Charles had reacted as well, but neither moved closer to her since Keiro had quickly put an arm around her back.

"I'm fine," she said finally when the pain faded a bit. She drew in a deep breath as she straightened her back and turned to meet Keiro's gaze. He was obviously in disbelief as he stared at her, eyes wider than usual and flashing with more emotion than she was used to seeing in him. "I'm alright," she repeated as she touched his chest with her free hand. Keiro only swallowed, until he forced himself to nod once, his eyes flitting to her stomach in half a second.

Charles and Mason eyed Keiro, both trusting his reaction above their own, mostly because Keiro probably already knew how Attia would respond to anything they did. After another second, Keiro swallowed and nodded slowly at her, though she hardly noticed the gesture as she started walking towards the edge of the practice field. Without moving after her, Keiro looked up at Mason and Charles, but his gaze fell on Mason more intently.

"Keep an eye on her," he said simply, the words less of a command and more of a statement. Before Mason could nod, Keiro had turned to follow Attia out of the practice field. Mason waited a few steps before he followed after them. As they reached the edge of the practice area for the guards, Attia noticed Finn and King Logan emerging from a nearby courtyard, Claudia and Queen Abigail trailing behind them. A few servants followed a few steps behind the women while a handful of guards stood around the group, most of whom wore the foreign King's colors rather than Finn's.

"Feeling better I assume," Finn commented as he met and held Attia's gaze. From his tone, he obviously hadn't believed her claim, but when he noticed Keiro and Mason's faces, his face changed as well from one of mild entertainment to actual worry.

"I'm fine," Attia told him, her tone displaying her annoyance at everyone worrying about her. Keiro rolled his eyes at her comment but said nothing as he accepted her hand in his, their fingers intertwining.

"Perhaps you'd like to join us, then," Queen Abigail said sweetly as she stepped up to her husband's side, her gaze focused on Attia. "The Queen, the Princess, and I were to have some tea in a little bit, perhaps you'd like to come along?"

Attia remained quiet for a moment before she finally nodded and forced a smile on her face. "Yes, I'd be glad to join you."

"Shouldn't you… be resting?" Keiro asked, trying to hide his annoyance at her.

"I'm fine," she repeated sharply as she turned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't you go with Finn?"

"Finn?" King Logan questioned, his gaze on Attia and Keiro, though neither turned to him. Finn cleared his throat as he stepped forward, partially blocking King Logan's view of Attia and Keiro.

"It's just an old nickname," he explained before he motioned for them to continue. "These are the practice grounds for my guards," he said as King Logan directed his attention away from Attia and Keiro.

"Would you go to the Healer?" Keiro asked in a hushed whisper in Attia's ear, but she only pulled her hand out of his unnecessarily tight grasp to turn towards Claudia and Queen Abigail.

"I hear we're having lunch in the Princess Anne's rooms?" Queen Abigail asked as she turned her gaze to Claudia, who only nodded. As they started to walk back towards the courtyard they'd come from, Attia followed them, leaving Keiro behind. One of the servants had followed the women while the other two followed Finn and King Logan. Of course, Mason joined the ranks of Claudia and Queen Abigail's guards as they continued.

"Yes, it's a beautiful drawing room," Claudia explained. "It was designed by Prince Casper for her after they married."

The group moved through Court to reach Anne's rooms, where Anne was with a few of Claudia's ladies after they'd finished moving around the furniture to showcase the room. The servant had since left since Anne already had a number lining the walls of the room. As the four women took seats around the main table of the room, their guards positioned themselves around the walls so they were still near to their targets.

"I've seen so little of you, Lady Attia," Queen Abigail admitted as she turned to Attia. The other Queen was sweet natured, much like Anne, but Attia still didn't care for her much.

"I've just been busy," Attia replied vaguely. She did peer up to smile at the woman, but had quickly diverted her eyes back to her cup of tea. Mason was hyperaware that while the other three women sipped their drinks, Attia only clutched the cup as though drinking it would cause her stomach to hurt again.

"I hear you do work for the King. How do you still work, yet attend to your husband and your children?"

Attia stopped the remark that had come to her nearly instantly, earning a grateful look from Claudia. Turning back up to Queen Abigail, Attia replied. "I only work as much as I can manage."

Queen Abigail seemed only slightly satisfied by the response, but Attia wasn't paying her as much attention as she should have. "Your husband, the Duke, is a surprising man, to me."

Had Attia been drinking her tea at all, she would've chocked on it upon hearing Queen Abigail's comment. When Attia peered up at her again, after taking a moment to compose herself, she only rose an eyebrow. "How so?"

"He's just very… lenient. He allows you to continue working after marriage, and I assume, he's no problem with your lack of wedding ring to honor your marriage."

"Well, I don't wear a wedding ring, because Keiro and I never got married," Attia answered, ignoring anything Claudia was trying to say wordlessly.

"Not married?" Queen Abigail repeated as though she were afraid she'd heard Attia wrong. "Then what of your children? Will they not enjoy a standard inheritance?"

Attia rose her eyebrow at Queen Abigail, but refrained from responding the way she wanted to. "If you'll excuse me, I do have some work to attend to. It was nice to speak with you, Queen Abigail," Attia said quickly as she started to stand. Mason had quickly moved towards her, and as they approached the door, he pulled it open for her and the two left around the corner.

"Allows me to continue working?" Attia repeated in disbelief after she and Mason had gone down a few hallways away from Anne's drawing room. "He allows me?"

"I think the Mallery Kingdom has more traditional views about men and women than we have here," Mason replied as they continued. "Even her guards are afraid to get too close to her."

"And what if I don't want to wear a damn ring, who the hell is she to determine what that means?" Attia questioned as she peered up at Mason. "I hate rings. They're pointless, and you can't grip a knife with one on."

"I have a feeling, you're one of the few women who distinctly have that issue with hand jewelry," Mason replied, obviously entertained by the conversation. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Would you let it go?" Attia replied sharply as she turned up at him, her face showing more anger than it had before.

"Ok," Mason replied as he nodded, his face remaining straight. He knew better than to keep pushing her. It was trick he and Charles had picked up from Keiro years ago.


	12. Chapter 12

Attia and Mason were in her office, she seated behind her desk working through some paperwork, he standing in the corner behind her rather like a formal guard. A knock came at the door, and Attia called for whoever it was to enter without even peering up. She heard footsteps cross the room before she looked to see a messenger came into her office.

"The King has summoned you, Lady Attia," he said simply as he set a folded piece of paper on the desk for her to take.

"Summoned?" Attia repeated as she reached for the paper and unfolded it to read Finn's official office note. The messenger replied before leaving the office to continue his tasks. Attia groaned as she stood and pocketed the note. She nodded to Mason, who moved across the room to open the door for her. They walked to Finn's office, where, surprisingly, only Finn, Claudia, Keiro and their combined guards were present.

"Are you kidding me?" Finn asked as soon as Attia stepped into the office. Mason had shut the door behind them and remained near the wall.

"What?" Attia replied sharply.

"All you had to do was be nice to them!"

"I was nice," Attia replied. "I didn't tell her to get the hell out of Court, did I?"

"You told her you weren't married," Finn groaned as he looked away from Attia to focus too intently on the pages across his desk. "You know they aren't as open about gender roles."

"She asked, Finn. What was I supposed to do? Lie?"

"Yes," Finn answered sharply as he peered up at her. "Lie. You always lie to them. Was that so hard a concept?"

"She asked why I wasn't wearing my wedding ring, Finn! I don't have a damn wedding ring!"

"You admitted to openly enjoying a sexual relationship with a man you're not married to," Finn said, rephrasing what the problem was.

"Well, when you try to make it sound immoral, of course it sounds like I'm a whore," Attia shot back, and Keiro laughed at the comment, despite Finn's cold gaze in his direction.

"Those were her exact words to me about you."

"Oh come on, Finn. You're exaggerating."

"No, those were her exact words," Claudia put in, trying to sound stern, but obviously as entertained as Keiro was.

"She asked what was going to happen to my bastard children, Finn. She's lucky I didn't toss her bullshit tea set in her face."

"She didn't say that," Finn argued, but Attia only motioned to Claudia. Finn turned up to her for an explanation.

"She may have inquired about how Attia's children would fare in terms of their inheritances," Claudia explained and Finn groaned.

"You couldn't just say you were getting your ring cleaned?" he groaned as he turned to his desk again.

"She also added that Keiro was very kind in allowing me to continue working after marriage, even though it takes time away from my attending to him," Attia commented, her words heavy with sarcasm.

"Attending to?" Keiro questioned as he turned to her, eye brows raised, but her gaze remained hard.

"If you want attending to, call a maid hand," she told him sharply and he only laughed. "Better yet, I hear Morgan is still here."

"Oh come on," Keiro laughed as he stepped towards her and put his hand on her arm. "She's just some dumb bitch. Let it go."

"Keiro," Finn groaned again, but Keiro only shrugged as he turned back to him. "What part of be nice to them did neither of you understand?"

"Oh, just don't tell her I said that," Keiro replied as he rolled his eyes.

"What is the problem anyway?" Attia asked as she turned away from Keiro to look at Finn. "What difference does it make to her what kind of relationship I have?"

"King Logan is afraid this kind of environment is not suitable for their daughter," Finn answered and Attia rolled her eyes.

"No, much better for her to marry domestically and be a perfect little dotting wife," Attia replied sarcastically before she turned to leave the office without leave from Finn. Keiro followed her, their fingers intertwined on his own accord. Mason and Keiro's guard followed the pair from the room, and Finn let them go without so much a word.

"Did she really make you that mad, Attia?" Keiro asked as they walked down the hallway. Attia didn't respond to the comment at all, deciding to pretend he'd said nothing. He seemed to take the hint, since he didn't press for an answer, nor did he repeat the question.

"I made an appointment with the healer," she admitted after they'd walked down a number of hallways. He wasn't sure where she was leading him, but he didn't care anyway.

"For when?" he asked as he turned to her briefly, but she kept her gaze straight ahead.

"Tonight after dinner," she answered, feeling his fingers tighten around her hand.

"Where are we going?" Keiro finally asked when he realized they'd taken a different hallway instead of the one leading to her office.

"Check on Vivian," Attia answered as she slowed down to stop in front of a specific office door. She knocked loudly twice before she let herself into the room. Inside, Vivian was holding up a piece of fabric while Morgan twirled on a platform in front of three mirrors set at angles to each other. She was draped in a white wedding gown that was pinned together crudely rather than sewn appropriately. "You only have a week left in here," Attia told Vivian as she caught her step-sister's attention.

"I know," Vivian replied simply. "Mason offered me his office until the King approves one for me."

"Mason gave you-" Attia started but stopped as she turned over her shoulder to look at Mason. Since she turned, she missed the look Vivian sent Mason, but she did notice the color rising to Mason's face under her scrutiny. "So," Attia started as she turned back to Vivian. "You'll be designing dresses in Central Command? Did you clear that by Charles?"

"What?" Vivian replied and Attia groaned as she started to turn to Mason, but Keiro put his hand on the small of her back to refrain her.

"Head of the Royal Guard," Attia said as patiently as she could manage. "Mason's office is next to Charles' and I don't think he'll appreciate your fabrics falling out of every crack in the office."

"Well, surely Mason deserves a better office than that."

"Oh god," Attia rolled her eyes, but said nothing she was thinking. "Central Command was built first after Court collapsed. Of course it's shitty. When Mason becomes Head of the Royal Guard, he'll get the nice office."

"He's going to be Head of the Royal Guard?" Vivian replied, sounding excited. Attia let her head fall back as she drew in a deep breath. She just nodded before she turned to leave the room without saying anything else. Keiro walked beside her, his guard trailing behind. Mason, who lingered in the office for another minute longer, jogged down the hallway to catch up.

Later that night, Keiro was surprisingly ready for dinner before her, since she was still with Kyra putting the girl to sleep. Keiro stayed in the hallway out of the doorway so as not to bring attention to himself, but could still hear Attia's voice as she read a story to Kyra. After a few more minutes, Attia emerged from the bedroom, and was slightly surprised by Keiro standing in the hall.

"You should change," Keiro told her after she pulled shut the door to Kyra's bedroom.

"What?" she questioned as she turned to him and rose an eyebrow. He'd never made comments about her attire before, unless it was to request the blue dress he liked.

"Logan and Abigail will be there too, and Finn wanted you to salvage your image with a traditional dress," Keiro replied, his voice spouting out the parts of his sentence taken word-for-word from Finn with heavy sarcasm. Attia laughed as she followed him down the hall towards their bedroom. When she went into the closet, Keiro sat on the edge of their bed, his eyes following her into the closet. After some digging through the back of the closet, she returned to the bedroom holding a fairly conservative dress, though it was not in the traditional style.

She tossed it on the bed to the side of Keiro before she started to unbutton her blouse. Keiro stood and reached for her waist, his hands sliding to the front to unbutton her pants. As she slipped the blouse off of her shoulders, Keiro bent forward to press his lips to her shoulder, bare other than the thin straps of her bra and undershirt. "You're going to make us late," she accused, her voice calm and not at all accusatory. She could feel Keiro's lips turning up in a smile as he continued press kisses along her shoulder to her neck. After he'd unbuttoned her pants, he moved his hands to her undershirt, his fingers pulling up on the bottom as she wiggled to slip out of her pants.

"I don't think anyone will miss us," Keiro admitted as he wrapped one arm around her waist. His other hand managed to pull her undershirt over her head after she'd stepped out of her pants and kicked them to the side.

"Somehow, I doubt that," she told him as she pressed on his chest to put some space between them. Reluctantly, he stepped away to retrieve her dress, which he unzipped before he lowered it so she could step into it. As she turned her back to him, she used one hand to lift up her hair while he pulled the zipper up to the top. His hands returned to her waist as he stepped closer to her, pressing his chest into her beck, his lips lowering to her neck. "Keiro, stop," she groaned, though she made no attempt to stop him.

"You're the one who took off all your clothes," he replied, but she only laughed as she released her hair and stepped out of his embrace. He caught her hand before she could too far away, but she just pulled on his arm as she continued towards the door. Eventually, they made it into the hall and started towards the formal dining hall, their two night guards trailing behind them. Since neither knew their night shift guards particularly well, they stayed a good five steps behind the pair, and Attia and Keiro paid them no attention, their hands and kisses finding each other as though they had no audience at all.

Just outside the door to the formal dining hall, Keiro securely wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back, then turned her to press her against the wall of the hallway. His lips found hers before she could protest, and since he was kissing her by then, she kissed him back. After a few moments, he pulled away from her and let her slip out from the space between him and wall, their fingers still intertwined as she took the two short steps to the doorway. Keiro pushed open the door above her, his eyes glued to her and oblivious to the others already in the dining hall who'd turned to see who was entering the room.

Finn, Claudia, Casper, and Anne were already seated on the far side of the table, two seats still open on the other side of Finn. Charles was seated on the other side of the empty seats for Keiro and Attia, with King Logan's advisors seated on the other side of him. Keiro sat beside Finn, while Attia sat beside Charles.

"Nice of you to show up," Finn commented, since King Logan and Queen Abigail hadn't yet arrived. Attia turned to Finn with narrowed eyes, while Keiro ignored the comment.

"Just be glad we did, Finn," Attia replied sharply, her smile softening when she felt Keiro's hand slide over to her leg beneath the table. Before Finn could make a comment, the door opened with two servants on the other side, King Logan and Queen Abigail standing behind them. As the servants stepped to the side, the royals stepped into the room and took their seats on the far side of the table. During the small talk between Finn, Claudia, Queen Abigail, and King Logan, the servants wheeled carts into the room, carrying the night's dinner.

"So, how have you enjoyed your stay so far?" Anne asked sweetly as she turned to Queen Abigail. Her gaze shifted slightly to King Logan, her smile remaining present.

"I think Court is lovely," Queen Abigail responded as she held her wine glass between her fingers. "And the country side was quite beautiful during our trip here. It's a shame we won't see more of your kingdom," she added as she turned her gaze to Finn. She was so sweet and genuine that Attia just didn't like her, even though those same qualities were what made Anne so likable.

"Yes, I hear Incarceron is quite the vacation spot," King Logan added as he lifted his wine glass toward Finn. Attia and Keiro averted their gazes so quickly, only Claudia had noticed the changes in their expression. Of course, she was the only one other than Finn to know to look, and Finn was preoccupied with keeping his own face straight as he held King Logan's gaze.

"Perhaps we can arrange a short visit during our stay?" Queen Abigail asked, pulling Finn's gaze to her. Finn simply stared at them, well aware they expected some kind of response, and yet he couldn't get himself to form any words. Desperately, he reached out to his side, his hand grasping Claudia's knee more tightly than necessary to get her attention.

"We'd have to get into contact with the Sapphique Assembly to arrange a visit. They govern Incarceron nearly completely on their own now."

"Well, don't they answer to you?" King Logan replied, eyes narrowed as he questioned whether or not Finn really did control all his lands, Incarceron included.

"They answer to me," Claudia answered, sensing Finn still had not gained control of his speech in his shock. She had a feeling he, as well as Attia and Keiro, was also working through more than a few memories that had been locked away then sudden released at the mention of the Prison. "I am standing Warden of Incarceron, and will be in name after my father. I control Incarceron and the Sapphique Assembly."

"Then, surely, you can arrange a short stay," King Logan replied, his gaze then shifting to Claudia. With the other man's gaze shifted, Finn's grasp on Claudia's knee loosened, but his hand did not move from her leg entirely.

"I will contact them in the morning and see if the proper arrangements can be made," Claudia said, knowing King Logan would not accept a rejection of his request to see Incarceron. He was right that it had become a vacation spot over the last ten years Claudia had been in control of it, but in all the years Finn, Keiro, and Attia had been at Court, they'd refused to step foot within its walls again. Only Finn had gone in for two short days to find her father, and Claudia remembered how difficult that experience had been for him.

"I think we're going to retire for the night," Attia said suddenly, even though neither she nor Keiro had even touched their dinners. Keiro's wineglass, however, was bone dry and Attia had eyed Charles' rather possessively until he moved it to his other side causally.

"But you've hardly eaten," Queen Abigail protested as she turned to Attia. If she did have any ill will towards the marital situation between Keiro and Attia, or lack thereof, it didn't show in her gaze. "Surely you need to nourish the baby."

Attia's eyes shot to her, shocked that she knew of Attia's pregnancy. Before Attia said anything, she felt another stab of pain in her abdomen, her hand flying to her stomach as a reaction, though she forced the other to stay on the table top. Keiro had noticed the gesture, as had Charles and Finn, all their eyes glued to her as she cleared her throat and forced her arm to relax.

"We'll have dinner sent to our room," Keiro explained finally as he looked up at Queen Abigail briefly. As he stood up, he held out a hand for Attia to take as she stood once the pain subsided. Before they could leave the room, Charles extended his arm and wrapped his hand around Keiro's wrist tightly. Keiro turned back to him and Charles stood before he leaned down to whisper in Keiro's ear. Nobody could hear the words spoken between them, but Keiro nodded as he pulled away and met Charles' gaze. Keiro and Attia left the room swiftly without any formal goodbyes to any of the royals seated at the table.


	13. Chapter 13

The room was eerily silent as Attia sat on the hospital bed, Keiro seated across the room from her. He was leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands. The healer had already seen her and made his diagnosis after running a series of tests neither Attia nor Keiro had tried to understand. The fact that she'd lost the baby—suffered a miscarriage, as the healer put it—was perfectly clear, however.

When Keiro finally did look up at her, her eyes were closed, head tilted back against the upraised pillow, silent tears falling down her cheeks. They hadn't planned for another child after having Kyra and after finding Chris. They'd stressed about making room for another child, and yet it hurt to know there would be no child after all.

He stood up and crossed the room in three long strides before he squeezed himself onto the bed between Attia and the wall. She quickly adjusted to make room for him, turning so that she buried her face in his chest, his arm moving to rest around her shoulders. Closer to her, he could now hear her heavy breathing and feel her chest pressing into his violently with every breath. He'd only see her cry a handful of times—when her father arrived the first time and at Finn and Kyra's births—but he reached up to stroke her hair all the same.

"I love you," he said finally. It was as rare an occasion as her crying, since he'd only said it the first time to win her back then at their children's' births, but it seemed to make her cry harder. Her heavy breaths had become sobs as she wrapped her other arm around his neck and fully buried herself into his chest. He just swallowed as he held her, unsure what else to do, or even if there was something to do.

Neither were prepared for company, so when the door to the room opened, both were caught off guard. Attia pushed herself further into Keiro without even looking to see who'd come into the room. Keiro, however, peered up to meet Finn's gaze.

"Are you ok?" Finn asked as he sat in the chair Keiro had left on the other side of the room. His eyes had shifted to the back of Attia's head as she shook her head in answer, then returned to Keiro's gaze. Finn, unlike Keiro, had never seen Attia cry before, and though he couldn't actually see any tears, nor could he hear her sobs, he assumed she was crying all the same.

"Did the healer tell you?" Keiro asked.

"He sent a sealed message," Finn replied. "I didn't tell anyone. I'll arrange for new guards for you tonight and the next few days, so Charles and Mason won't be-"

"No," Attia said suddenly, her voice locking its usual power. "Keep Mason," she added, her words slightly muffled by Keiro's chest. As Keiro continued to stroke her hair he met Finn's gaze, then nodded.

"Ok, Attia," Finn replied. "I'll keep Mason as your guard for tomorrow. And I fixed the lock on your office door, and I'll keep it sealed until you're ready." Attia said nothing in return, but could hear Finn standing judging by the sound of the chair moving against the floor. A moment later, she heard the door open and close, signaling it was safe for her to pull out of Keiro's chest.

She'd never felt so vulnerable in her life. She, who survived Incarceron and the terrible life she had there, could hardly contain herself. Once she had let the tears fall, she could no longer stop them long enough to hope to get to their bedroom dry. And though she knew Keiro had told her he loved her and held her in an attempt to comfort her, she felt as though those things made her feel even more helpless than she already was. Once upon a time, she could've survived just fine without Keiro, and now she was terrified he might take his arm off of her shoulders.

"It's ok, you know," Keiro finally said, as though he could read her mind. He had a knack for that. Maybe it was because he knew how she thought, and she couldn't figure out if she liked that or not. "It'll be ok. You'll be ok. We'll be ok," he added, now sounding like he was trying to convince himself more so than her.

After a few more minutes, Attia seemed to dry up and had even pulled away from Keiro, though he seemed reluctant to release her. He watched her for a few moments before she smiled weakly at him as though to prove she wasn't a fragile as she appeared. Keiro seemed to notice since he reached out with his hand to touch her cheek, his thumb running over her lips then the dried tears on her jaw line. Without saying anything, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and offered his hand to her, though she refused. They walked beside each other, without touching, to their bedroom.

Keiro was already awake the next morning, but when Attia startled awake beside him, he was caught off guard anyway. Her eyes were wide as they scanned the room quickly, until she realized she wasn't trapped in whatever nightmare she'd been having. She turned to Keiro, who's arm was around her waist, and looked at him before she leaned forward to kiss him hard. As she kissed him, she repositioned herself so that she straddled his hips, her arms wrapping around his neck tightly.

She'd had so many nightmares over the years that Keiro wasn't surprised at the way she threw herself at him. She always had after a nightmare. It was her way of solidifying the difference between her nightmares, usually of her life before encountering Finn and Keiro, and the life she had now with Keiro. Being with Keiro was the easiest surefire way to know what was real. He'd never asked her about it before, but he wasn't so dense to not see that the way he treated her was vastly different than the way any other man had before. If feeling those differences put her at ease, he certainly was in no position to deny her.

"I love you," she told him after they'd finished and he'd rolled to his side. Keiro smiled and hadn't been able to stop the laugh that passed him, but Attia didn't look mad when she turned her head to look in his direction. She reached out to touch his cheek, aware that the events of last night had affected him as much as it had her even if he rarely showed such emotion. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he answered as he held her gaze, and she believed him. "You?"

"I will be after I beat Mason in the training ring today," she replied. Keiro wanted to tell her to take it easy, to not go off into pretend battle hours after a partial miscarriage, but he knew she'd make him sound like an overprotective idiot if he so much as attempted it.

Of course, he didn't have to say anything for her to know how he felt about it. Proving, she really didn't care, she rolled out of bed to avoid holding his gaze too long, and started to dress. She opted for the comfortable clothing she wore under her armor, then sat at her vanity table to braid her hair back and out of her way.

"Just be careful, then," Keiro told her, unable to keep it completely to himself. He stood in the doorway of their closet, fully clothed, as he watched her braid her hair. She peered up at him for a brief moment, a reassuring smile across her lips, before she turned her gaze back to the mirror to finish her hair. He left the room first, and she followed a few minutes later. Only Mason was standing in the hallway, since Kyra, Chris, and Finn had already left to play, their guards and nanny following them.

Mason noticed the attire Attia wore, and eyed her carefully before they started walking down the hallway. "Did Finn tell you?" she asked finally.

Mason cleared his throat as he looked down to her, her gaze fixed ahead of them. "Yes," he answered finally. "Is that a problem?"

"No," she answered simply, sounding calmer than he'd expected. "We're going to practice today."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked as gently as possible. He noticed her rolling her eyes at the question, but she didn't say anything as they continued down the hallway. Mason only nodded as he continued beside her, knowing better than to try to force her to do anything. And if Keiro hadn't tried to stop her, he certainly wouldn't.

When they arrived at the training area, Charles eyed her carefully, then seemed to come to a conclusion after his eyes settled on her stomach for a moment. Clearing his throat he nodded as he turned to the attendant in the armory tent for him to retrieve Attia's armor. Charles said nothing as he helped Attia into her armor since the attendant was helping Mason.

"Here," Charles said finally as he passed a sword to Attia. She took it from him, ignoring the look in his eye. He followed Mason and Attia out of the tent and into the training area, but walked along the low wooden fence while Attia and Mason went to the center of the area. Charles had vaguely noticed Finn and Keiro walking out of the courtyard with King Logan, but his attention was mostly focused on Attia.

Mason tested her out first, the way he always had whenever they sparred. Over the years, Attia stopped sparring with the other men, since Mason was best able to match her if she was off for any reason. Attia knew any given man under Charles' control could destroy her, but she often just liked the physical exertion sparring was.

When Mason realized Attia was as sharp as she'd ever been, he became slightly more aggressive, his blows landing a little harder on her shield. His footwork was slower than usual under his own will, to match her smaller strides, but for the most part he was at full capacity. When Attia heard King Logan's voice behind her, she faltered slightly, Mason withdrawing his attack at the last second to account for it.

"You train your boys with the grown men?" King Logan had asked, his question probably directed to either Finn or Charles. It wasn't the first time someone had commented on Attia's size when she was in the practice arena, nor did it usually bother her. She was so significantly smaller than Mason that it was hard not to comment on it.

"No, we don't," Charles answered as he cleared his throat. Attia had taken the few seconds she had to kick Mason square in the chest, a move that was meant only to push him back far enough to buy herself a few valuable seconds. In those seconds, she dropped her sword and shield, and reached to the top of her boots where a sheathed knife was attached. She freed the knife and spun quickly to the four men and their guards standing along the fencing of the arena, Charles on the inside, Finn, Keiro, and King Logan on the outside. Mason, who'd noticed her withdrawal from their battle, had stopped in time to watch her throw the knife at the men, King Logan's guards reacting while Finn and Keiro remained perfectly still.

The knife lodged itself into the wood of the fence just in front of King Logan. Though his guards had reacted, they weren't faster than a flying knife. As King Logan stared at her in disbelief, she reached up to pull her helmet off and drop it to the ground, her braid falling over her shoulder.

"It is an act of war on the part of the Realm to attack me!" King Logan spouted at her, his guards beginning to climb over the short fence. Attia had let out a dray laugh as she stared at him. Keiro pulled the knife out of the fence and threw his leg over the fence faster than the other King's guards had been able to do due to their armor.

"If I was going to attack you, you'd be dead," Attia told him sternly as she stepped closer to the fence, stopping when Keiro reached her and handed her the knife. "And if any of your men come within ten yards of my children, or my father, again, they will not be spared."

"You don't have any power to order the Royal Guard," King Logan answered. By then, his men had gotten over the fence and had started towards Attia, but Keiro had lifted her sword from the ground, Mason had come to Attia's other side, and Charles had stepped in front of her, the three obviously unafraid of the two guards before them.

"If you trespass on my property again, your dead guards will be the least of your worries," Attia told him as she stepped between Keiro and Charles. Before King Logan could respond, she turned away and began walking towards the armor tent, Keiro following behind her.


	14. Chapter 14

"Did you really assault King Logan?" Anne asked as she turned to Attia. The two were seated in one of Anne's rooms with Claudia on the other side of the table.

"No," Claudia answered simply, even though she hadn't even been there. Anne turned to her with narrowed eyes and Claudia met her gaze. "If Attia assaulted someone, they'd be in the hospital. He's just a little shaken up because no one likes knives thrown their way."

Attia remained quiet, even as Claudia and Anne turned in her direction. She just ate her lunch, which now seemed to go down a lot easier. She'd told Claudia and Anne of her miscarriage, but only Anne had fawned over her for a few minutes before Claudia reigned her in. "What did you do about the whole… Incarceron thing?" Attia finally asked as she peered up at Claudia.

"I'm still working on it," Claudia answered as she turned to meet Attia's gaze. "Abigail is still pressing for a visit, but Finn really doesn't want to go in."

"He's not the only one," Attia admitted as she averted her eyes to her meal.

"But," Anne started as she turned to Attia. "It isn't the same now, though. It's nice. It was very lovely when Casper and I went a few years ago."

Attia said nothing as she swallowed her bite and peered up at Anne.

"I guess, that doesn't mean that much, given the circumstances," Anne admitted.

"It means something, just not as much as you want to think," Attia explained, surprising the two women seated with her. They'd learned long ago that Attia, Keiro, and Finn never spoke of Incarceron, even if those around them were. For Attia to say anything at all about it like she had was new. "And if we have to go, then the kids are staying here," she added, her voice telling Claudia that there was no room for debate on the subject. So, Claudia just nodded as she held Attia's gaze.

"Finn might cave in and agree just because they haven't exactly approved of all the things going on here that are different from their domestic lives," Claudia explained. "Taking them out there might be enough to appease them for a while."

"How does the… Sapphique Assembly work?" Attia asked and Claudia stared at her in surprise.

"It's ten people. I modeled it after Council. In the beginning Jared ran it, but he's retired and so now I've appointed someone who sends me weekly updates to run everything and make decisions about what goes on. They keep Incarceron happy and content, and he helps them with implementing and enforcing laws, and keeping watch."

"He?" Attia questioned.

"It told them early on in the beginning that he was a… a he," Claudia replied, realizing what could sound like to Attia to hear Incarceron referred to as though it were a person. "It's kind of just habit now, after all these years."

"And it works, then?" Attia asked.

Claudia nodded her answered, still unable to fully believe that Attia was asking about the Sapphique Assembly. Not even Finn had asked so many questions about how she ran the Prison. Except, it—he—wasn't called a Prison anymore. A year after their wedding, Finn had just signed over complete control of the Prison to her and never once brought it up again. He ran Court, and she ran Incarceron.

"It… cooperates?" Attia questioned, her eyes now directed downward to her nearly empty plate.

"Yes," Claudia replied. "It's been a few months since my last visit, but even then everything was fine."

Attia only nodded, opting to remain quiet. She knew Incarceron had been transformed. That it was no longer dark and deadly. It had meadows and waterfalls and butterflies now. Beautiful, pretty, perfect things put there by the woman Attia hated so much all those years ago when she was trapped there. It was ironic that they now sat across a table from each other, as close of friends as they would ever be, after the start they had. Attia tried not to dwell on such things because she usually blocked out any thoughts of Incarceron. In her mind, her life started the day she left It behind, begging the question if her life would end the day she went back.

"I don't think we would have any real trouble there," Claudia finally said, as though that had been Attia's main concern.

"What happened to all the records?" Attia asked suddenly as she looked up again. "The ones your father kept in his library."

"They'd been relocated to a central site inside Incarceron and opened for public viewing," Claudia answered. Attia's face quickly shifted, so Claudia continued speaking to clarify. "But, I had your files, as well as Keiro's, Finn's, your sister's, and your father's removed before that."

Attia seemed to relax some as she nodded at Claudia's continued explanation. "If I gave you a few names could you remove those as well?"

"Of course," Claudia answered. "I'd need the numbers as well… or something else to know the right file," she added when she saw how Attia responded. "You can access them on Finn's computer if you need too. Just use my information," she explained as she stood from her seat to cross the room. She collected a piece of paper and pen from a table pushed up against the wall, then brought them back to the center table. She scribbled down some information before she passed the note across the table for Attia to take. "I tried to take out all the files that might've had you, Keiro, and Finn in them, but that's a difficult task. Over the years, Sapphique Assembly has thumbed through them to look and pulled a few more, but if there are some still there just tell me."

"They never said anything about any they found?" Attia questioned.

"They never pulled any for you," Claudia answered. "Mostly only Finn, and a couple that had Keiro, but they said they never found any of you, but perhaps they just couldn't recognize you."

"You were a lot younger then, Attia," Anne put it, unaware of exactly what Claudia meant. Claudia knew Attia shortly after the days of Incarceron. When she'd had short ragged hair and bruises and cuts and scrapes that littered every inch of her body. Neither corrected Anne, and Claudia only nodded as though to agree. Attia folded the note and pocketed it before she lifted her glass of water to take a sip.

After the lunch, Attia fled while Anne and Claudia went to meet Queen Abigail. She went straight to Finn's office, glad to find it empty since he spent the majority of his days entertaining King Logan. She shut the door behind her before she crossed the room to sit at his desk and turn on the computer on the corner of the desk. Finn had offered to install a computer in her office, but Attia didn't trust machines any more than Finn did. Finn had been forced to continue moving forward in terms of technology to keep the Realm advancing, but he never forced Attia or Keiro into doing the same. As such, she did all her work on paper the old fashion way, and her office remained computer-free.

Using the information Claudia had given her, Attia managed to get onto the secure royal system. She'd used a computer a few times before in the past, so she wasn't completely lost on the concept. It'd taken her only a few minutes to pull up the Incarceron Records database only Claudia had access to. Well, now Attia had access as well, but it wasn't as though she were some kind of internal threat. Attia quickly navigated the system so well that she could find the search system to take her exactly where she wanted in a few seconds.

Typing on the keyboard was another matter, but since she was only searching names, typing with only her forefingers wasn't too much of a setback. She typed in the first name and waited for the results page to finish loading with a total of 34 matches, each with a unique number attached to them. She painstakingly clicked through them all, watching clips of the records, though the entire record of each prisoner was available to her. She only needed a shot of each man's face, however, to know if it was the one she was searching for. Then when, about ten results into her search, she found the one she wanted, she meant to exit out and scribble down the name and number without searching any further.

Of course, some things weren't as simple as that. Instead, she kept watching, then skipped back to the previous clip, then the one before that, and the one before that, as though she so desperately wanted to torture herself. Then, when she found the one she didn't want most of all, she found she could not close it.

It was old, dated fifteen years ago, and yet she felt as though it was recent. That was probably due to the fact that watching the Prison's recording of it was far more detailed and accurate than any memory or nightmare she could conjure up all on her own. The way the older man grabbed onto her wrist seemed to reach through the screen, since she unconsciously felt around her right wrist with her left hand on the spot where the man was grabbing her in the record clip. He forced her back, until her back was against a wall. She had no idea where they were, but she knew exactly what was happening next.

He forced his mouth down on hers, his free hand back handing her when she refused to cooperate, then holding her neck to ensure cooperation from that point forward. After a few moments, the hand that nearly strangled her moved down her body and as though she was awakening from a nightmare, she came out of her trance and shut down the entire database.

From memory, she slowly wrote the man's name and his number that seemed ingrained in the forefront of her mind. She could recall it so clearly now, even though she'd barely looked at it on the screen, but she had no clue what it was previously at lunch. When she finally finished writing it all down, she dropped the pen to the desktop and bent down to put her head down. She heard the pen rolling then drop off the edge of the desk, but made no attempt to retrieve it.

When she heard the door to the office open, her head shot up to the door. Finn was standing in the door frame with King Logan right behind him, Keiro off to the side. She cleared her throat as she stood up and collected the pages with Claudia's information and the man's name and number. Then after stuffing them into her pocket, she clicked around on the computer screen to exit out of Claudia's system and return to the main screen of the computer.

"Are you ok?" Finn asked, obviously unaffected with finding Attia in his office using his private computer. King Logan very apparently saw issue in the situation, but kept it to himself since it was not his office, nor his computer.

"I'm fine," she replied as she looked up at the three. Their guards had already filed into the room and lined up along the walls, Mason joining them. Since she knew what she would be searching for, she'd left him outside the office after he'd adequately walked through the room to be sure she would be alone. "I was just looking a few things up."

"Find what you need?" he asked as he approached the desk and bent down to retrieve the pen on the floor.

"Yeah," she answered quickly, feeling Keiro moving up behind her, his hand resting on the small of her back.

"Well, there's another computer in Claudia's office if you need anything else," Finn told her as he opened one of the drawers on his desk. He retrieved a key hanging from a silver ring and held it out to Attia, sensing he'd interrupted her even if she'd had her head down on the desk when they came into the office.

"Thanks," Attia said simply as she took the key and put it in her pocket as well. Keiro walked with her to the door, Mason and his guard following them as they continued down the hallway. Keiro knew that with the two extra set of ears following them she'd never tell him what she was doing on the computer. But since she'd been on it at all, he knew it was serious. She didn't trust mechanical things any more than he did.

Silently, Keiro walked with her, knowing that if she wanted to be alone with Mason, whom she could sometimes easily spill her secrets to depending on the secret, she would've by then told Keiro to leave. Instead, she said nothing and let him walk with her as she went down a set of stairs to get to the ground floor of Court. They continued down a few halls until they reached a courtyard where Keiro spotted Claudia, Anne, and Queen Abigail sitting in the gardens. Attia approached them, pulling from her pocket the papers and the key, but Keiro and the two guards hung back.

Claudia met Attia's gaze but said nothing as she silently accepted one of the pieces of paper Attia held out to her. "If some of my ladies are in my office, just tell them I sent you to look up things privately," Claudia said, noticing Attia had the key to her office Finn had, and coming to the conclusion that Finn must've given it to her to finish what she was doing. Whether Finn knew what Attia was doing was beyond Claudia.

"Ok," Attia said simply as she nodded. She hadn't even met Anne or Queen Abigail's gaze before she turned and returned to the entrance of the courtyard where Keiro and the two guards were waiting. They parted to let her through, then turned to follow her back into Court's confined walls. Once they'd walked a few halls, Attia turned to Keiro and reached to touch his arm. Pushing herself up to her toes, she managed to press their lips together. "I'll see you tonight," she told him, clearly conveying that she no longer wanted him to stay with her. He only nodded as he held her gaze until she turned away and continued down the hallway with Mason walking beside her.

They went into Claudia's rooms, which had been converted to house the visiting royal family except for Claudia's office that remained locked at all times. Nobody was around so Attia simply unlocked the door with Finn's key and let herself in. Mason knew she would be doing the same thing she'd done in Finn's office, so he walked through the room. After he was satisfied that the room was empty and free of threats, he left and let Attia shut the door behind him.

At the desk, she followed the same process as before, this time searching for a second name. Again, she clicked through a number of the results until she recognized the face belonging to one of the unique numbers. Before she could go searching for herself the man's records, she went back a screen and jotted down the number and searched for a third name, then a fourth, then a fifth.

She was sure there were more, but she couldn't really remember them all that clearly. Only those five were the ones that haunted her. They were the ones that tormented her, made her life Inside so much worse than it had to be.

Since nobody else had access to the office, Attia left the paper there, as it was nothing more than a list of five numbers that could mean anything. Tomorrow, she would tell Claudia where the list was and request that she not look through the records before removing them, just to remove them without question.

After locking the door behind her, she turned to see Mason watching her. "What time is it?" she asked, unaware of how long it had taken her for find what she wanted.

"Past dinner," he answered. Attia only nodded as she started down the hallway. Mason accompanied her to her rooms, where her night shift guard was waiting for her, as was Keiro. Since she'd been hiding away in Claudia's office, somewhere no one thought to look for her, they'd just waited for her to return to her room for the night. When Mason was sure her night guard was alert, he left, shutting the bedroom door shut behind Attia.

Keiro peered up at her from where he sat on his side of the bed. She said nothing as she walked across the room towards his side of the bed, rather than towards the closet to change into her sleepwear. After climbing onto the bed, Attia moved towards him, one leg swinging over him to straddle his hips. She kissed his fully, her lips already parted. He kissed her back, his arms wrapping around her and eventually sliding to the front to undo the buttons of her blouse.


	15. Chapter 15

"They still want to go," Finn commented suddenly. He was sitting up in bed while Claudia was moving around the room after changing to pick up things that had been scattered around during the day. Though his comment seemed harmless enough, Claudia caught the tone of his voice and turned to look at him, his expression almost worried. Since nobody else was in the room, Finn let his emotions show on his face.

"Have you offered to take them somewhere else? Somewhere here?" Claudia replied as she tossed the rest of the clothing towards the closet door. She'd planned on putting it all away, but instead she climbed into bed beside Finn, who quickly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"Yes," Finn answered. "They don't want to see anything here."

As Claudia relaxed against him, she rested a hand on his chest, her head on his shoulder, a position that was made more comfortable when he laid back. "Well, it's not really that terrible there anymore, Finn," Claudia explained. She knew he knew Incarceron wasn't what it used to be, but she also knew he still didn't want to go anyway.

"I can't go alone," he said, and Claudia only nodded as she pressed herself against him more so than she had been doing before. Based on his tone, she knew he didn't mean he needed her to go with him, because she obviously would be going as well. Instead, Finn meant he couldn't go without Attia and Keiro.

"Do you want me to talk to Attia and Keiro tomorrow?" she said softly as she forced herself to keep her eyes ahead. Finn didn't necessarily like when someone could see everything on his face, even if it didn't bother Claudia one bit.

"No," he finally answered as he shook his head and turned to look down at her, prompting her to meet his gaze. "I'll do it," he added before he pressed their lips together in a short kiss. "Do you know what Attia was doing today on the computer?" he asked randomly after he'd pulled away from her.

"Yes," Claudia answered, knowing she could rarely successfully lie to him now. Finn watched her, as though expecting her to tell him what Attia was doing, his silent but implied question. "But I don't know if she wanted you to know," she finally said and Finn nodded. It wasn't as though it was the first time Attia had tried to keep something from Finn. "But when you talk to them tomorrow about going to Incarceron, you should ask her. She might tell you."

Finn only nodded, but Claudia had a feeling he'd lost interest in the topic. His hand wrapped around her shoulder had begun to move against her skin. He was quiet as he tilted his head to rest his cheek against her forehead, his eyes drifting shut.

"What are you afraid of?" Claudia asked suddenly, unsure if she would get an answer at all. She'd long ago accepted that there were some things Finn could only discuss with Keiro and Attia, but she wasn't sure exactly where the division was or if it still existed now, years later. She felt Finn tense beneath her, but after a moment, he drew in a deep breath and seemed to relax.

"I don't know," he answered finally, the truth to his words ringing in his tone. "That I won't come out again. That It'll shut off the Portal. That It'll become what it was with us still in it just because It felt like it."

"That's not going to happen, Finn," Claudia said as she sat up and looked down at him with piercing eyes. She honestly believed her words, but it was obvious he didn't.

"You don't know that."

"It's been eleven years that I've been in control and there's been no problem."

"Because it's been eleven years that I've been here and you've been there by yourself," Finn replied sharply, sounding more defensive than he'd meant to. He'd pushed himself up as well, his upper body balanced on his elbow as he looked at his wife.

"Incarceron won't rebel, Finn," Claudia repeated, her tone stronger as though all it would take to convince him was more conviction in her voice.

"You don't know that," he replied, his voice taking on the same qualities as hers. She shut her eyes as she drew in a breath, realizing that there was nothing in her power she could do to convince him otherwise. "I am more scared of getting stuck again than I am of losing you, Claudia," Finn finally said, holding her gaze the entire time. She noted that he only mentioned her, and not their children John and Charlotte. Whether that meant he was more afraid of losing them than getting stuck in Incarceron, she wasn't sure, but his message was clear either way.

"So you'd rather Incarceron close up again with just me in it rather than you too?"

"Well, you've been going in for eleven years without trouble, so I can't imagine getting stuck there with all the rainbows will that be bad for you," Finn spat back, his words heavy with sarcasm as he tossed back the covers and slipped out of bed before she could stop him. She hadn't meant the harsh remark, but it'd slipped out of bed before she could stop it.

"Finn, please," Claudia pleaded as she slipped out of bed as well and retrieved her robe from the nearby chair. Finn, however, had already left the bedroom in just his sleepwear, the door wide open behind him. When Claudia finally reached the doorway, Finn had already turned the corner, his guards jogging to keep up. Claudia's two guards remained with her outside the bedroom door, watching her as they judged whether or not she would follow him.

She'd decided on giving him a few minutes before she went after him, so once those few minutes passed, she started down the hallway, her two guards on each side of her. They knew better than to say anything about their relationship, but it was fairly obvious they'd had some kind of disagreement. When Claudia spotted Finn's guards standing in the archway of one of the courtyards, she hurried towards them, but paused when she realized Attia's guard was standing with Finn's.

Turning her gaze to the courtyard, Claudia spotted Finn approaching Attia, who sat on the grass of the courtyard alone, her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared up at the sky as though counting the stars. "Are you ok?" Finn asked when he was within a few steps of her. Attia seemed startled, but quickly relaxed again even as Finn lowered himself to the ground beside her.

"Fine," she replied, though it was clear from her tone of voice that she wasn't. "Did you have a fight?"

"Did you too?" Finn asked with a dry sarcastic laugh.

"No, we didn't," Attia answered as she shook her head. She'd only looked at Finn for a second before turning her gaze back up to the sky.

"Then why are you out here?" Finn asked.

"It hurts," Attia said vaguely, but Claudia could somehow tell that Finn knew what she was talking about. "It was stressful to try and figure out what to do with another kid, but it hurts so much now that it's gone."

"Did you talk to Keiro?" Finn asked and Attia only nodded once. It seemed like Finn hadn't even seen the gesture, but then he nodded as well. Claudia's eyes narrowed as she stared at the scene in front of her. Any insecure woman could immediately jump to the conclusion that Finn and Attia were entangled in some kind of late night affair, but Claudia wasn't that insecure, nor that stupid. Finn and Keiro, though have very little in common on the surface, were quite similar in terms of their relationships, and if Keiro had ever found out Finn had so much as looked at Attia suggestively, Claudia had solid grounds to worry for her husband's health.

"Did he say anything?" Finn asked since Attia seemed to have no verbal response.

"We had sex," Attia answered and Finn laughed relatively hard since it was the middle of the night outside in the cold.

"There are other things you could do for comfort, you know," he finally commented, pulling a laugh out of her.

"They don't work as well."

"I am sorry about what happened," Finn said seriously as he wrapped his arm around Attia's shoulders. She instinctively leaned to rest her head on his shoulder, and again Claudia felt nothing in terms of jealousy for the other woman. Of course, if anybody at Court saw the scene, the rumors of Finn and Attia would spread like wildfire. They'd always been somewhat popular until they died down for a few months then came roaring back. It seemed they'd never really gone away since Finn had kept Attia in his household after his marriage until she'd finally had children.

"Are we going back Inside?" Attia asked suddenly as she lifted her head off of his shoulder and sat up straight to meet his gaze.

"I hope not," he answered as he swallowed. He sighed as he rotated his head to stretch his neck.

"Is that what you fought about?"

"Yeah," he admitted as he nodded. Claudia was surprised, but after a moment, she realized she shouldn't have been. It was strange on the surface level for Finn to confide in Attia, since he had Keiro, his oath-brother, and Casper, his step brother. Men, who could relate to his situation better than a woman could. But Attia was insightful and understanding and emotional, things that would never use to describe Keiro and Casper. "She doesn't get it."

"Did you expect her to?" Attia asked, her words probably sounding meaner than they were to Claudia since they were about her and she shouldn't have been listening at all.

"I expected her to… understand," Finn said as he shrugged and stared forward at the field, which was just blackness in the middle of the night.

"What if It knows were there and closes up?" Attia asked. Claudia was shocked how Finn and Attia's fears were identical when they'd obviously not spoken about them with each other until then. "What if tries to torture us for leaving?"

"I don't know," Finn said, his voice carrying an edge that indicated he was reaching his breaking point. He'd leaned forward to put his elbows on his legs and burry his face in his hands.

"We're leaving the children here."

"Obviously," Finn answered as though that was never a question. "If It wants to keep us there, fine, but the kids aren't getting within a hundred yards of the Portal."

"I don't know what to do with Keiro if we're there," Attia admitted as she turned to Finn again. "He wasn't exactly… calm back then, and we didn't have a relationship back then, and what if he changes in there?"

"There are a million things that could happen, Attia, and if you stay out here and dwell on every possibility, you'll just end up in the psych ward."

"I can't help it, Finn."

"I know. Go back to your room and have sex then."

This time, Attia laughed as she stared forward. She laughed so hard, her entire body was shaking, but Claudia could barely hear the laugh from the archway. She could see Finn turn to smile at Attia, but Attia hadn't acknowledged it. "What if we all go insane in there, Finn?"

"Well, you're not Crown Heir anymore, so I guess the three of us get to run our own psych ward," Finn answered. It was grim, yet Claudia could detect the playfulness of the conversation between the old friends. "But I mean… honestly, if anything happened, we'd do it all over again."

"Yeah," Attia agreed as she nodded, her voice becoming serious so suddenly. "I know."

"So I guess, it won't be too terrible," Finn rationalized. "At least this time we know there's an Outside to get to."

"And we won't all be at each other's throats."

"You mean you and Keiro won't be at each other's throats?" Finn laughed.

"I just don't want to get there and then-" Attia started then stopped suddenly. Finn turned to her, his face fallen and sympathetic as he leaned over to kiss her cheek sweetly. Claudia had never seen the two show affection for each other the way they had that night, and yet Claudia found it didn't seem as strange as she thought it would be. In fact, they felt like best friends—siblings, almost—desperately clinging to each other in the middle of the night when the prospect of nightmares kept them from sleep.

"It all become real again," Finn finished, but it wasn't a question but a statement. Claudia had brief knowledge of Attia's past in Incarceron, but she assumed that Finn had a little more information.

"It took years to make all those things go away."

"And it's amazing that it'll all come back in the two seconds it takes someone to just say Incarceron."

"What are we going to do, Finn?" she asked finally and seriously. As though there was some kind of serious problem in front of them they had to overcome. Claudia had never seen the possibility of going into Incarceron as a problem that had a solution, yet it was obvious that was exactly how Finn and Attia viewed it.

"I don't know," Finn answered with an air of hopelessness in his voice. "Go sleep on it. Maybe you'll think of something."

"Blow it up," Attia suggested as she turned and stared at him, her smirk appearing a little more evil than usual in the moonlight, at least from Claudia's perspective.

"One can hope," Finn replied as he put his arms behind him to lean on them then slowly lower himself to lay back on the ground. He and Attia lingered there in the grass for only a little while longer, but as they rose to their feet and turned back around to the archway that led into Court, only their guards were waiting for them.


	16. Chapter 16

_I have to finally thank** Lotuslita**, **b**, and **What did you get yourself into** rather belatedly for reviewing every single chapter for the last seven or either (or maybe 10) chapters. Because of that kind of encouragement, I confess that I've started writing a fourth one to follow after the end of this story, but it will definitely be the last in this series. I may have a darker more sexual K/A story in the works as well. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

"What are you and Claudia in cohorts about?" Keiro asked. His voice was muffled and nearly incoherent due to his half-asleep half-awake state. Attia was surprised he was even up at all when she wandered back into their room after clearing her mind in the courtyard with Finn. As she pulled off her shoes and left them where they landed, she moved across the room to bend down on her side of the bed. Keiro had moved all the way over, one arm draped over the edge of the bed as though he'd kept moving across the bed to find her, then gave up when he reached the edge of the mattress.

"Claudia?" she repeated, some confusion clear in her voice. Keiro lifted his head up to look at her, but it took him a few seconds to actually open his heavy with sleep eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The computer in Finn's office. Whatever you gave her afterwards. The key to her office," Keiro replied, making more sense than she'd expected him to. As she stripped herself of her outer layers of clothing, Keiro rolled over to the center of the bed and draped his arm over his forehead, his eyes finally clear and focused on her. Since it had been the middle of the night, she hadn't properly dressed so after she pulled off her top layers, she was in her sleep wear. Keiro held up the blankets with his hand and she slipped into bed beside him, the arm draped over his forehead moving to her shoulders.

"I wasn't meeting Claudia," she said after she'd settled into the space between his chest and arm. His fingers were stroking her shoulders gently as he cocked his head to peer down at her.

"You were crying again," he accused, and Attia turned her eyes away from Keiro to rest her head on his chest. He felt her chest press into his as she took in a deep breath then slowly let it out.

"I was just walking, Keiro."

"Where?" he asked, his voice losing its sharpness and returning to a sleepy haze.

"Around. Finn was out. They fought about going back," Attia answered, which seemed to peak Keiro's interest. His eyes became clear again as he peered down at her, but she didn't meet his gaze in an attempt to hid her apparently still pink and puffy eyes.

"What happened?"

"He didn't say much about it."

"Well, we are going to get out of it, aren't we?" he questioned as he slid over to lay on his side and look at her directly. She resisted the change in position, but he reached out and forced her gaze to meet his with a hand on his cheek.

"We're trying," Attia answered as she swallowed. Keiro only stared at her as he nodded. Politics were never his strong point. Not because he wasn't capable, but he certainly was, he just didn't have the patience for it. Attia, on the other hand, had grown to like it over the years, but both were aware she simply did better on the Outside when she had things to keep her busy. Playing as Finn's personal advisor and financial planner in addition to motherhood was certainly enough to keep anybody busy. And a busy mind couldn't be bothered with all the immobilizing fears and memories of their past life. Of course, the prospect of returning to her past could undo all that in a matter of seconds.

"So what were you doing on the computer?"

Attia remained quiet rather than spout out some on-the-spot lie. Keiro's gaze remained on her, though she averted hers to the ceiling. As he moved to lay closer to her, she felt the mattress shift to resist Keiro's weight, then bend beneath it. His hand touched her waist gently, his fingertips resting on her bare skin but not moving.

"Goodnight," he finally said before he rolled his torso over to press his lips to her. He wasn't going to press her for any answers she wouldn't readily give him. As quickly as he'd rolled onto her, he'd rolled off, and tucked his arms around his pillow. It seemed to Attia that as soon as he shut his eyes, he'd fallen back to sleep more or less on his side of the bed.

The next day, Keiro showed up for the meeting without being told. As he walked into the room, he was surprised to see that Claudia, Charles, and Mason were already present though Finn and Attia were not. Members of Council were present but not seated at the table, though they stood around the room. Additionally, King Logan, Queen Abigail, and their few advisors were present with all their armed guards lining the walls of the room. "Where are they?" Keiro asked as he sat down in his seat next to Charles and turned to the Commander.

"I don't know," Charles replied with a shrug. "Been avoiding everyone all day, it seems."

Keiro knew, as did everyone on the Realm side of the table knew, that meant Finn and Attia been planning something together. After another minute or so, Finn and Attia strode into the room, Attia ducking under Finn's arm as he pulled open the door for her, then followed her in. They walked down opposite sides of the table, and Attia sat beside Keiro, pressed a short kiss to his cheek, and turned to face the visiting royals. Finn had taken his seat at the head of the table, between Claudia and Attia, and turned to the other side of the table as well.

"I can't imagine all of this is about a trip to Incarceron," King Logan began, apparently unaware that an entire meeting was called about Incarceron. Such a trip seemed inconsequential to King Logan, but nearly everyone on the Realm side of the table knew that was not the case.

Finn looked to Attia and she met his gaze, the two seemingly pondering something over between them. Something Claudia and Keiro had been left out of. Whether that was by design or accidental wasn't quite clear. Eventually, Attia shrugged and turned her gaze to the other side of the table, her eyes clear and shinning for the first time since the miscarriage. Keiro had taken notice and shifted his gaze to Finn, curious as to what had made it happen.

"I've decided to decline your marriage offer between Princess Avery and Prince John," Finn declared simply and the room suddenly disrupted into outrage. Claudia, particularly, looked shocked and overwhelmed, while the members of Council standing around the room began to protest. On the other side of the room, however, the Mallery advisors appeared more bewildered by the response to the declaration than anything.

"It seems your decision needs to be discussed with your own people," King Logan mused, but Finn stood from his seat, shaking his head.

"I don't need their permission to decide the future of my own child. You're welcome to stay until the end of the week, and by then you should have completed your travel plans. The Commander will arrange transport with your guards to provide you and your family with adequate protection through the Realm." Finn pushed back his chair from the table as Attia stood up, and the two left the room the way they'd come in, except Keiro chased after them on the way out.

"What was that?" Keiro called out as he caught up to the pair near the end of the hallway. Finn and Attia slowed only enough for Keiro to catch up so by the time they reached the end of the hallway, the three were walking together up the staircase to the next floor where Finn's office was.

"What it sounded like," Attia answered simply as she turned over her shoulder to smile at Keiro. "Besides, what's the point of mingling with him now since our royal lines won't be joining," she added with a dry laugh as she faced forward again. Finn let out a real laugh as they reached the top of the stairs and started down the hallway.

"By mingling you mean-"

"A trip to hell?" Finn asked without looking at Keiro. "Yes, exactly."

"I told you we were trying to get out of it," Attia boasted as she turned to look at Keiro. She took only a few steps backwards to keep up with Finn, but as Keiro put his hands on her waist, they both stopped walking.

"Yes, you did, love," he agreed before he planted a kiss on her lips. They both laughed as they caught up to Finn. As the three rounded the corner, they looked happier than Claudia could ever remember seeing them. Of course, she rarely saw the three together except at dinner, and that was with Casper and Anne present in addition to all the servers. The three were never alone like that and she almost felt like an intruder as she stood in front of them in the hallway. She'd managed to beat them to the office because she took the shorter path the three often avoided because it was littered with courtiers who needed attention.

"What the hell was that?" Claudia demanded as she composed herself and attempted to keep her gaze focused on Finn. That proved to be a difficult task considering Attia and Keiro on the side of him were so happy it was hard not to watch them. She'd never seen the smile at each other like that except when their children had been born. Coupled with Finn's smile, she almost felt bad for coming in and ruining their moment of triumph. Granted, even she hadn't seen that coming, and she'd often prided herself for her more expertise in the ways of Court. Ultimately, she'd decided, it was her fault for underestimating Attia and Finn. If they wanted something bad enough—say, for instance, to escape from Incarceron—they could do it, no questions asked.

"What it looked like," Finn answered her finally as he started walking again. Since he'd started walking, Keiro and Attia followed him, the three parting to get around Claudia, who turned to follow them into Finn's private office. She locked the door behind her so nobody else could bother them. Claudia really wanted to speak with Finn alone since the decision affected their son, but she knew it was a long shot to even consider kicking out Attia and Keiro. Taking them on, three on one, wasn't much better, though.

"You just scheme together and then make us all look like fools?" Claudia questioned as she crossed the room to lean over Finn's desk. Finn was on the other side of the desk, but not seated as he bent down to organize a few things on the desk top. Keiro and Attia were off to the side, but not far away.

"What were you expecting?" Finn replied sharply as his eyes turned up to her. "You were all but going to force us in there again, clueless to the very real possibility that we might not come out again," he said, his tone obviously angry as he motioned between himself and Keiro and Attia.

"Don't be over dramatic!"

"That is not over dramatic," Keiro put in. Keiro, who was quite talented at over-dramatics, even knew that Finn's fear of not coming out again was very real. Claudia's cold gaze shifted to the side to Keiro briefly before she forced them back to Finn.

"I think you've forgotten what it was like back then," Finn said, his voice calmer than before, his defensive edge gone.

"Of course, I haven't, Finn. I just think-"

"Do you not remember the nightmares?" Finn questioned before Claudia could continue. "Walking up terrified and looking for eyes? Convinced that if I went to sleep, I'd wake up on the Inside again? And you think this is over dramatic?"

"You've almost ruined our alliance with them," Claudia said in response, choosing to steer clear of what the real reason was behind the decision to decline the marriage offer.

"That was an unfortunate but necessary side effect," Finn replied, sounding very diplomatic. "The point was to get rid of them as soon as possible, thus making that trip unnecessary. If you haven't noticed, I'd rather go to war than to Incarceron."

Claudia kept herself from replying right away. She glanced to Keiro and Attia, who obviously supported Finn in his position on the matter. When she looked back to Finn, she knew he was quite serious about the statement he'd just made.

"He is our son, Finn."

"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't consult you." He meant it, and she could tell. He just didn't mean it enough to actually consult her, she thought bitterly. "But I didn't make this decision just because I wanted to decide something for him without you, and you know that."

Claudia did know that, yet she was obviously still upset anyway. She drew in a deep breath, but said nothing as she turned away from the three and went to the door. She unlocked it quickly and left the office, pulling the door shut behind her.

That night, Finn was in their bedroom before she was. He'd even showered and dressed before she came in, so he climbed into bed, not expecting her to come at all. It wasn't all that difficult to have a spare room made up, so when he heard the door open, he sat up suddenly to see who'd come into the room.

Claudia stared at him silently before she turned away and walked across the room to the closet. She rummaged around until she came back out with her sleep clothes in her hand. As she crossed the room to the bathroom, she didn't even look to Finn once. After stepping into the bathroom, she shut the door behind her. Finn heard the lock click, and a few seconds later, he heard the shower running. He wanted to stay up for her to come to bed, so he forced himself up completely and leaned back to rest against the headboard. He leaned over to switch on the lamp and picked up the book on his bed stand that he hadn't read in weeks. It managed to keep him awake long enough for Claudia to shut off the water. He tossed the book to the side without even marking the page as he waited for her to come out of the bathroom.

In all the years they'd been married, they'd never had bitter moments like that before. They weren't like Keiro and Attia who seemed to thrive on intensity and passion and petty arguments. They were calm and loving and Finn hadn't any idea what to do. Claudia had never blatantly ignored him before. Never. He believed, in his heart of hearts, that he and Attia had made the right decision, but he wasn't sure how long he could hold out if Claudia remained this cold to him. He probably wouldn't even last the night without feeling her touch.

When Claudia came out of the bathroom, she was dressed in her night clothes, her hair pulled back lazily and messily, but that was how he it loved it most. She met his gaze for only a second as she crossed the room to her side of the bed. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her before she leaned over to kiss him briefly on the lips, then turned back to lay on her side facing away from him.

Finn drew in a deep breath, which sounded shakier than he'd wanted it to, then turned off the lamp and slide down to lay on his back. He swallowed as he reached over to touch Claudia's back, his fingers grazing over her shirt tentatively, as though afraid she would pull away from him at any moment. He was terrified of losing Claudia, even if he hadn't been fully aware of it until then. He'd always know how terrified he was of losing John or Charlotte. Even of losing Keiro or Attia, since they grounded him, made him believe their life now was real. But he'd, foolishly, never considered what it would be like to lose Claudia.

Finally, thankfully, he felt Claudia slide back into his touch, nudging his hand up to her waist. He decided it was best to just go for it and risk rejection rather than go the night with only minimal contact, so he slide closer to her until his chest was completely pressed against her back, the two of them by then squarely on her side of the bed rather than in the middle. He wrapped one arm around her and felt her fingers slowly interlace between his until they were holding hands. Though he'd been holding her until that point, he didn't fully relax until then and she turned her head to look up at him when she felt his long breath escape him.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently before she turned more entirely to really look at him. His arm barely left her waist at all and he pulled her close again to close the gap between them she created.

"Yeah," he mumbled as he pressed his lips against her forehead. He more dragged his lips along her skin to place a kiss on her temple, rather than actually pull away from her. At the same time, his grip tightened around her waist. She forced some space between them to peer up at him, eyes narrowed in doubt.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Just missed you," he answered with a half truth. His eyes shifted to her lips for a second before he forced them back to her eyes. The rest of his body relaxed before he kissed her forehead again.

"I was just mad, Finn," she said finally, beginning to realize what was bothering him. She reached up with one hand to stroke his cheek gently, her fingers pushing back the hairs that folded over his hairline.

"I know," he replied with a soft nod. She gave him a half smile before she pressed her lips to his, expecting a brief second goodnight kiss, but Finn responded to her in full. His lips moved back quickly and harder than usual, his arms tightening around her again. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck, always willing to accept his affection, though she didn't understand what brought it on so suddenly. "I'm sorry," he finally said breathlessly as he pulled away from her lips but quickly placed kisses to her jaw line, her cheeks, her neck, her collarbone. "I'm sorry, Claudia."

"It's alright, Finn," she told him with a soft laugh mixed in with her words. As he met her gaze again, she smiled at him brightly, a genuine smile that he returned. He pressed their lips together again, but the kiss was gentler than the last.


	17. Chapter 17

Attia held her ground during the next few days when King Logan fought back against Finn's sudden decision. Finn, however, was quickly swayed back to Claudia, though he failed to explain to Attia exactly why that was. Nonetheless, she argued it every day in all the emergency Council meetings. She didn't even have half of Council, including Keiro, on her side, but it wasn't in her nature to give up. Outnumbered or not, she would not be planning a trip back Inside. That much, she'd made perfectly clear.

At the same time, Keiro's opinion didn't carry very much weight, and it had been painfully clear that Finn's previous decision had been one concocted between himself and Attia, Keiro left out of it completely. So as Attia battled Finn to hold his position, even though he would never attempt to fully battle her on any matter, the room was simply divided into two sides: Attia's, and what had become Finn's, even though he was more of a neutral player.

"I really don't think that since Claudia decided to have sex with you after your decision means you should have to change it now," Attia snapped as her cold gaze fell onto Finn. He drew in a deep breath as he focused on keeping his lips straight. Claudia had hidden her face from the others while Keiro unashamedly grinned and even laughed.

"That is neither here, nor there," Finn finally replied.

"Oh really?" Attia questioned as she rolled her eyes and looked away. Finn had gotten the point, and she knew he wouldn't acknowledge it in front of everyone in the room, so she let it go. "I don't think it's so unreasonable to let your child make his own damn decisions when he's older, say like, who he'll marry."

"King Giles and Queen Claudia had an arranged marriage at a very young age," King Logan put in, and Attia rolled her eyes again.

"What does that even prove?" Attia snapped as she turned to him. "And it's not like they had a normal, regular kind of relationship. Who's to say that if he hadn't been locked away to die like a failed project that they would've liked each other at all?"

"Attia," Finn called her name in the tone that meant for her to take a deep breath and return to normal arguments. Finn was well aware that her argument had weight to him and even to Keiro and Claudia, but nobody else would understand it simply because they had no experience with Incarceron.

"Fine," Attia said in response to his unspoken comment, but kept her eyes on King Logan. "That could be an isolated incident and may not repeat itself between your daughter and Prince John. Besides, why the hell do you want your want your daughter way the hell over here? Can't you marry her off to someone domestically and then maybe you can see her every week?"

Though her suggestion wasn't phrased in the most diplomatic of terms, heads turned to King Logan to hear his response to the idea. Nobody in any of the negotiations had said anything about the well being of Princess Avery.

King Logan took in a deep measured voice as he narrowed his eyes at Attia. King Logan and Queen Abigail were still unaware that the entire problem revolved around the trip to Incarceron rather than the marriage between their children, and no one wanted to inform them of this simply because it would reflect badly on Finn's mental state.

"She has been bred to be a Queen, and she will be one," King Logan replied.

"Bred her?" Attia repeated as she finally turned her gaze to Finn. Her lips were turned up in an amused grin that Finn hoped would go away soon. "It's like we're buying cattle for the ranch."

"Cattle?" King Logan's voice boomed and Attia's gaze slowly turned back to him, her face straight and emotionless. "My daughter is not cattle!"

"Then don't marry her off like she's property!"

"Alright," Finn said as he drew in a deep breath and looked between Attia and King Logan. "Let's not compare the girl to cattle," he started as he turned to Attia. "And respect other customs," he added turning to King Logan.

"We are not children, Finn," Attia replied sharply.

"I am aware," Finn assured her. King Logan started in with some angry tirade about how alliances shouldn't out-right deny each other the way Finn had, but Attia stood and left the Council meeting hall before King Logan could finish. He eyed her as she walked passed him, but said nothing, knowing well enough now that Finn was less strict in terms of keeping with tradition than King Logan was in Mallery. Keiro had stood and followed Attia, the two of them moving through the halls of Court until they lost their guards, who weren't their usual guards do to the Council meeting that required Mason's attention.

Without their guards, they walked to the open courtyard where the nanny was playing with Kyra, Chris and Finn playing not far away with their two guards. The guards Charles had assigned them were fathers themselves and good at keeping the boys entertained without compromising their protection. Keiro and Attia had been perfectly content to watch as the three played with each other and their caregivers, but as soon as Finn and Chris spotted them, they ran over and pulled Kyra's attention in the process. Within minutes, Keiro had each boy under his arms and Attia was walking beside him hand in hand with Kyra.

"Can you use that?" Finn asked curiously as he cocked his head up at Keiro. Keiro peered down at him, then followed the boy's pointed finger to one of their two guards who were walking towards the family.

"Use what?" Keiro asked as he put one knee to the ground and released the boys. Chris remained at his side but Finn ran to the guard and forcibly dragged the man back to Keiro, though the guard's show of resistance was just a show. When Finn and the guard reached them, Keiro stood up and the guard handed over his sword, though it wasn't an ordinary sword Finn was accustomed to seeing his parents use. Its handle was shorter and thicker, the blade wider and shorter as well.

"Look at the handle!" Finn exclaimed as he pull on Keiro's arm to lower the sword to his height. Keiro bent down again and turned the weapon over his hand for Finn to point at the fancy work done on the butt of the handle where initials were carved into the metalwork.

"You like that?" Keiro asked with a laugh as he bent his arm so Finn was looking at the handle straight on. Finn, grinning and nodding, turned to his father and Keiro only laughed again and nodded. "Well, when you're older, we'll get one like that, then."

"It's so much heavier than yours," Finn commented as he took the handle from Keiro. Keiro didn't release the handle right away as he tested how well the boys hands to hold up the heavier blade. Finn was right about the weight, but he was too young to understand that Keiro and Attia had always relied on their abilities to get away from a fight as quickly as possible, so heavier weapons were never their weapon of choice. Their guards, however, were trained to stay behind and take on a fight no matter what, therefore their heavier blunter weapons were a better choice. Finn also was too young to be told that all the fancy gemstones and metal work on a sword was lost on his parents because their weapons were meant to simply do their jobs as weapons. The guard's fancy sword was probably some family heirloom he'd gotten permission to use as his on-duty weapon.

"Don't point that at anyone, Finn," Attia told him sharply and Finn turned to his father. She was not clueless about the looks they gave each other, but she didn't comment on it. After another few minutes, Finn's strength gave up and Keiro took the heavy sword from him before handing it back to the guard.

"Better stick with your knife, there, Finn," Keiro told him with a laugh.

"But that one's dull!"

"That's the point," Keiro replied, still laughing, though Finn hardly saw any humor in it the way the four adults did.

"When do I get sharp ones?" he demanded and Keiro rose his eyebrow at his son as he gauged the question.

"I don't know," Keiro replied finally. Finn gave up and pulled Chris away with the guard with the fancy sword, the other trailing behind them slowly. "How did you do that?" Keiro asked as he turned to Attia, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What are you talking about?" she replied sharply as she narrowed her eyes back at him.

"How do you have two kids that are exactly like you?" he questioned. "All through the pregnancy you hated me because I was the one who did it to you and you didn't get pregnant all by yourself, and look at that," he said as he motioned to Finn and Chris in the distance, then Kyra off to the side. "They are clones, Attia."

"Upset?" she laughed but Keiro rolled his eyes as he turned away and tried to ignore her victory grin.

Upstairs within Court's walls, Finn could see Attia and Keiro with their children in the open courtyard. Claudia was standing in the center of the room away from the window, but she didn't say anything to pull Finn's attention away from the scene below him. "What am I supposed to tell them?" Finn finally asked as he drew in a breath and turned back to face his wife.

"We didn't have a choice," Claudia replied, but Finn felt like she was defending the decision not answering his question.

"We?" Finn repeated, well aware he sounded bitter and resentful.

"What did you want me to say?" Claudia replied sharply as she took one step towards him then forced herself to keep the distance between them. "He all but threatened war, Finn. You and Attia insulted him over and over again. What were you expecting? If he wants to go to Incarceron to forget all of this, then don't we have to do that to protect the Realm?"

"I hope that's not what you want me to say to Keiro and Attia," Finn replied, the corners of his lips turning up in a brief smile. Before it disappeared, Claudia matched it, her face softened, and a soft laugh escaped her. "I didn't say that I didn't understand, but I guarantee they won't."

"It won't be that bad, Finn, I promise."

"You can't promise me that," Finn replied as he crossed the room and put his hands on her waist. "I know you believe that, Claudia. I know Charles and Mason believe that, and I want to believe it, too. But you can't promise me that. And I can't promise them that either."

Claudia just drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh as she rested her head on Finn's chest, her arms moving to wrap around his neck. After a few moments, she pulled away to look up at him, her face betraying her emotions.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know if having Keiro and Attia there with us will make anything better with our relationship with Logan and Abigail," Claudia explained slowly and carefully.

Finn just stared at her for a few moments and she almost thought he hadn't heard her at all. Then, he swallowed and shut his eyes briefly until he focused his gaze on her again. "I'm not going in there alone, Claudia. Don't you remember what happened last time?"

It was years ago, but if Finn ever let his mind wander unchecked it would go back there and pull up all the memories like they were fresh. He'd been young and naive and fancied himself invincible, but that certainly had not been the case. He'd nearly broken down almost immediately upon entering Incarceron in search of her father. Thankfully, something important—had it really been important? He couldn't remember—had distracted Keiro and Attia from his deteriorated mental state when he returned.

"But, it's been a long time now, Finn."

Finn fought the urge to roll his eyes at her, and was rather successful. Suddenly, he was well aware exactly why Keiro and Attia put up with each other. Anyone with half a brain cell could see they probably stood a better chance of being happy apart and with others, but was that worth being with someone who didn't understand that deep rooted fear that never seemed to go out? It could fade, yes. It could pretend to be locked away, but at any moment it could come out again, and whenever that happened Attia and Keiro had each other to cling to. Finn had Claudia, a woman who, though well intentioned, kept insisting that time made that fear disappear completely. Good thing she fell in love with Finn and not Keiro, because Keiro would have sent her running from the room crying in three seconds.

"I know, time doesn't change anything," Claudia said as she nodded, repeating Finn's motto for all things Incarceron. She sighed as she put a hand on his chest and met his gaze, unable to do much else.


	18. Chapter 18

"I am not going," Keiro simply declared as soon as Finn had told him and Attia. The three were in Finn's office with various Council members and courtiers around the room. The dinner table had already been set up in the far corner as servers were beginning to file into the room.

"Keiro, we can talk about it at dinner," Finn told him as he turned his gaze to someone beside him who needed a signature.

"Talk about what?" Keiro replied sharply. "About how I'm not going?"

Finn rose an eyebrow as he turned back to Keiro, suddenly recalling that Keiro was not the bargaining type. "Clear the room," Finn said as he dropped his pen to the desk and glanced around the room. Everyone expect Attia, Keiro, and Finn left the room, and as soon as the door shut behind them, the quiet in the room shattered.

"You just agree to send us all in there without even asking us?" Attia spat before either man had a chance to respond to each other.

"Ask you?" Finn repeated as he started to step away from the desk towards the dinner table. He pretending to set the table himself, but really he didn't feel that comfortable standing so near to Keiro and Attia when they were both that angry. "I already knew what your answer would be."

"Then why did you agree to it at all?" Attia demanded.

"That doesn't matter," Keiro said as he stepped in front of Attia to get all of Finn's attention. "I'm not going. I don't care what you do to me. I'm not going."

"You have to go," Finn replied as he dropped the fork he was holding and let it clatter on a wine glass that toppled over and clinked as it fell on a plate. "I can't go by myself!"

"Take Claudia!"

"That's not what I meant!"

"He's right, Keiro," Attia said suddenly and Keiro whipped around to face her, eyes narrowed defensively. "We can't make Finn go back alone," she repeated when Keiro's gaze hardened on her.

"He got himself into that problem and I'm not going back in there because his wife got a mouth too damn big for her own good!" Keiro yelled, his voice easily echoing off the walls and carrying down the halls. Within minutes, it was a full blown yelling match between the three, the teams of two and one switching around constantly. At some point, Claudia, Casper, and Anne had wandered into the office for dinner, but it seemed the three hadn't even noticed them at all. At that point, it was Finn and Keiro against Attia, something that didn't seem favorable for her but she held her ground as fiercely against them as she had against King Logan.

"I don't give a fuck what you think, Keiro! You're opinion doesn't mean that much to me!"

"No, obviously not!" Keiro yelled back as he stepped towards her, but Attia remained where she was, her gaze just lifting higher to keep her eyes on his. "Since when do the two of you ever include me in your little plans? Like you came running in to declare exactly what was going to happen a few days ago!"

"Oh, you have to get over that!" Finn yelled as he pulled on Keiro's shoulder and stepped around to Attia's side. Just like that, Attia and Finn were sided together while Keiro defended himself against them.

"You don't even like politics!"

"Then you two go in there and be with those shits from the other side of the world!" Keiro yelled back, his anger mostly directed at Finn.

"You would just desert us, then?" Attia demanded as she stepped towards Keiro. He, unlike her, backed away as she advanced on him.

"You keep throwing it in my face from back then, so I might as well, shouldn't I?" he snapped back as he stopped stepping back and even took a step forward, pushing her back one step. It was obvious Keiro had physical strength and size on Attia. The only protection Attia really had from Keiro was his own self control. Under the current circumstances however, the three at the door were too afraid to step in only because they'd never seen the three fight the way they were currently.

"That is different, Keiro," Attia spat as she shoved on his chest, but she hardly had enough strength for it to make any kind of difference. Keiro, who was well aware of that, swatted away her hand like it had been a bug flying around his head.

"Is it?" he questioned. "You go with Finn into Incarceron, and I'll wait out here like the chicken shit you two want to make me out be. How's that?" he questioned, his voice lower than usual and ever at a softer volume, though that just made his words sound eerie.

"Don't be stupid," she told him through gritted teeth, her eyes still narrowed and focused intently on him. Attia had tried to touch him, but he waved his arm away before she had the chance. Before she even could say anything, he pushed her to the side to walk past her towards the door. Casper and Anne quickly moved out of the door way for Keiro to leave, the door slamming violently shut behind him.

Silence filled the office then, with Finn staring at the door, his gaze eventually straying to find Claudia's eyes. Attia, however, stared at the spot Keiro had been a few seconds ago. She forced herself to breathe, but her breath came in shaky and unstable, her chest still feeling deprived of oxygen. Finally, she forced herself to turn around to look at Finn, who held her gaze.

"Let's eat," she finally said. Finn paused for only a second or two before he nodded and started towards the door. Casper, Anne, and Claudia hesitated but since Finn and Attia moved towards the table, they eventually did the same.

Dinner was silent that night because Finn and Attia had nothing to say and everyone else at the table was too uncomfortable to speak. Attia stood up from the table as soon as she finished and left the room without saying anything. She stalked down the hallway, until she realized how quickly she was reaching her and Keiro's rooms. After taking a deep breath, she shortened her strides and crossed Court at a normal pace. Walking through their quarters, she saw the children had already been put to bed and the light was on in their bedroom.

When she opened the door and stepped in, Keiro's eyes shot up to her. He was seated on the edge of the bed, a knife in one hand, a blade sharpener in the other. She shut the door and locked it behind her, her eyes never leaving his gaze, which still hadn't lost its cold nature. Attia was the first to turn away to head towards her dresser. When she pulled open the first drawer, she heard Keiro go back to sharpening his knife. She shut the drawer after putting her change of clothes on the top of the dresser, then started to unbutton her blouse. She let it drop to the floor before she reached behind her to unclasp her bra, at which point she heard the sound of Keiro's blade sharpening cease. Ignoring it, she started to pull her sleep shirt over her head, but before she could, Keiro's hand suddenly pulled it from her arms and tossed it to the side.

Turning back to him, ready to argue again, she was caught off guard when Keiro's lips crashed against hers so hard she wouldn't have been surprised if they were bruised the next morning. She felt his hands grasp her waist, his grip harder than usual as he pulled her flush against his body, but suddenly pushed her away after taking a few steps. She'd hit the wall beside the dresser, but it didn't break her gaze from Keiro's. His eyes were still cold and dark, reminiscent of how he used to look at her Inside, except there was something obviously different between them now compared to all those years ago. Rather than the two of them fighting, yelling, and threatening each other, they were near attacking each other with sexual advances.

When Keiro pressed her against the wall forcefully, she groaned, but it wasn't out of pain. He hoisted her up and her legs quickly wrapped around his waist. With her holding onto him, his hands moved roughly up her body, obviously not taking the same gentle care with her he usually did, until his hands found her wrists. His fingers tightened around them hard and kept them pressed against the wall, essentially leaving her with no defense against his kisses assault. As he started to pull away from her lips, she tried to lean forward to keep it, but was unsuccessful given that she had almost no ability to move. His smug smirk appeared when he heard her whimper at the loss of contact, but she groaned again when he redirected his kisses to her neck instead. Again, his kisses were rougher than usual, but it seemed to make no real difference between them. Attia rolled her head to the side, all the same, her legs tightened around his waist to hold herself up, and her back arched out of desperation for the bodies to touch.

After a little longer, Keiro released her wrists to grab her waist again. She could feel blood flowing into her hands again, but ignored the sensation as she grabbed his shoulders before he peeled her off of the wall. They more fell onto the bed than actually lowered themselves to it, and both groaned at the sudden contact between their chests. Attia's fingers moved desperately down his shirt to undo all the buttons, but after the first few, she began to tear the shirt off. Keiro quickly discarded the article of clothing before he laid down on top of her to kiss her again.

When they'd finally finished, they laid in the center of the bed, Attia resting against his chest, his arm draped around her shoulders. Her hand on his chest moved in slow circles on his bare chest, her fingernails scraping against his skin every so often. Her wrists were obviously bruised, but since she paid it no attention, neither did he. Keiro knew very well that if he'd ever done something Attia didn't approve of, he'd hear all about it.

Attia drew in a deep breath after she felt Keiro's heart beat slowed down to a regular pace. "Please come Inside with us, Keiro," she said, her tone uncharacteristically soft and pleading. Keiro remained quiet and still for a few seconds before he finally turned his head to look at Attia, whose eyes remained focused on her fingers and his chest. "I can't let Finn go by himself, and I need you there with me." He could feel her heart rate speeding up, so he started to rub his hand against her shoulder and back until she turned her eyes up to his.

She didn't even realize it, but he was well aware that it was the first time she'd ever said she needed him for anything. It seemed inconsequential, but that had been the reason he'd sought out other female company all those years ago. He liked to be needed, and on some level, he knew Attia did need him even if she never said it aloud. She needed him for their children, for sexual satisfaction, for companionship. But now she needed him for a whole other reason. Needed him so desperately, she'd said it aloud and with a 'please' added in.

"Ok," Keiro said finally, and Attia visibly relaxed as soon as she had verbal confirmation, not that there had ever been a chance that he'd have sent her back in alone. "I'll go with you," he said, feeling as though she needed the extra reassurance. She apparently did since she rolled further towards him, the hand on his chest sliding up to encircle his neck and hold herself against him more entirely. He pressed his lips to her forehead gently, then to her lips when she lifted her head up.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Keiro was more affectionate that usual, something that Attia found odd, but she wouldn't be the one to put an end to it. As they walked down the hallways of Court, his arm encircled her waist and pulled her against him. He'd even bent down to press his lips to her temple a few times, and Attia only smiled, keeping her gaze fixed ahead of them.

When they walked into Finn's office, he was with Charles and Claudia planning the security of their trip to Incarceron. Casper and Anne were present as well, because Finn turned to them every so often with instructions for what to do about certain things when he left them in charge. When Finn heard the door open, he peered up and eyes Attia and Keiro, a half smile pulling on his lips when he noticed Keiro's arm around her waist.

"Attia," Anne exclaimed as she stepped forward away from her husband and reached out for Attia. "What happened to your wrists?" she demanded as she took one of Attia's arms and examined the darkening circular bruise, then shot her eyes up to Keiro in a cold glare. It wasn't particularly difficult to put together that Keiro's strong grasp could've bruised Attia's wrists based on their heated argument the day before.

"Anne," Attia laughed as she pulled her arm from her hands and stepped towards her. Keiro let Attia put the space between them. "Don't worry about it, alright," she said, another laugh passing her lips, but Anne failed to see what Attia found so amusing.

"Just because, he's upset doesn't mean he can-"

"Anne," Attia said sharply before she could continue. "Keiro? Hit a girl? Don't be ridiculous."

Anne took a deep breath as she looked up at Keiro, who narrowed his eyes at her. He obviously didn't appreciate her accusing him of abusing Attia the night before, but he said nothing. Anne seemed to take the hint and retreated back towards Casper, but her eyes kept flicking back to Keiro every so often.

"I hit a girl once," Keiro said as he put his hands on Attia's waist then moved to take each of her wrists in his hands. Attia raised an eyebrow at him, but he kept his smug smirk in place as he lifted her wrists to his lips and kissed her inner wrists one at a time. "She just happened to really like it," he added as he then moved his hands back to pull her arms around his neck. Attia rolled her eyes, but smiled, at his comment and willingly kept her arms around his neck to kiss him gently.

As Attia stepped out of his embrace and approached Finn's desk, she peered down at the map spread out across the desk. She narrowed her eyes at it as she tried to see what the map was exactly, but she couldn't figure it out on her own. "This is the official building Inside," Finn explained as he pointed to the back entrance of the building. "We'll come in from here after coming through the Portal in the Portal Building next to it. Here's your room," he said as he moved his finger to the next drawing of the building, which meant the room was on the second floor.

"Keiro's coming too," Attia said and Finn nodded before he looked up to Charles.

"Alright, we'll add more security," Charles said.

"We have two guards each," Finn explained as he peered up at Attia, then turned to look at Keiro. "At all times," he added. Keiro only shrugged and Finn turned his attention back to Attia.

"What's Records?" Attia asked as she narrowed her eyes at one of the rooms.

"Those are all the Prison Records that were made available to the public," Finn answered, though Attia had guessed that much even before she asked. She nodded twice before she peered up at Claudia. Finn and Charles were still marking where all the guards would be stationed throughout the building, but Keiro watched as Claudia met Attia's gaze and nodded. Attia nodded in response then turned back down to the map.

Within the next few days, all the final preparations were made for the week long trip. Attia and Keiro had managed to pack their trunks, and the servants had started to carry them out of the room. Earlier that day, they'd already spoken to their children, and were now fighting the urge to go find them and say goodbye again. Mason, who was trailing them on Charles' orders, seemed to sense that, so he directed them to take the long way to the entrance of Court because it was farther from the courtyards where Finn, Chris, and Kyra were undoubtedly playing.

Outside Court, Claudia and Finn were speaking with King Logan and Queen Abigail, the four of them surrounded by all their combined guards. Attia looked briefly over at the royals long enough to met Finn's gaze. Both nodded and Attia and Keiro continued on to their carriage. Over the years, technology had advanced enough to uncover the mechanics invented through history, but vehicles like cars and automobiles were still scarce. Finn had three stored away in the underground garage beneath Court, but they were to only be used for emergencies. King Logan and Queen Abigail favored their traditional ways anyway, so travel by carriage was the best option.

After Attia and Keiro's trunks were secured to the back of the carriage, Mason climbed into the carriage as well and sat across from them. Their hands were joined between them, but both were staring out of their respective windows. "No more dresses?" Mason asked, his gaze on Attia. She smiled before she turned back to him, causing his eyebrow to rise.

"I can hide more knives in pants," she answered and Keiro laughed as he kept his gaze out the window.

"You two have been acting like we're going to our execution," Mason commented, his gaze shifting to Keiro, but since the blonde never turned his eyes away from the window, Mason looked back to Attia.

"Ever think that's what we are doing?" Attia asked, her voice so calm that Mason couldn't stop the chill down his spine. Not that he actually believed what Attia was implying, but it was enough to send a chill down his spine that she believed it.

"Well, we might have to assassinate Logan when we get there to get the hell out," Keiro put in as he finally turned back to Mason, then to Attia.

"That is not appropriate," Mason replied sternly, but Keiro's grin didn't fade in the slightest.

"Oh really?" Keiro asked as he held Mason's stare. "If she'd had said it, you'd be laughing."

"Keiro, don't sound petty and jealous," Attia said as she rolled her eyes. Keiro turned his gaze to her at the comment, but he was surprisingly not defensive.

"I'm not stupid," he told her, then turned his eyes back to Mason.

"Then you haven't heard?" Attia asked as she rose an eyebrow and turned to Keiro. "Mason has a crush on Vivian."

Keiro's laugh sounded more like a snort as he dropped his head back onto the wall of the carriage. "Should've brought her along then," he said as he lifted his head up again and stared at Mason, a creepy amused smile across his lips. "You know, just in case the Prison shuts down and won't let us out ever again."

"That's not going to happen," Mason replied but Keiro only shrugged as he turned his attention back out the window. Mason couldn't tell, but Attia could feel it as Keiro's grasp on her fingers tightened. Though he put on the outward show of nonchalance about the whole matter, even if he sounded somewhat unhinged, Attia knew he was as vulnerable about the whole thing as she was.

Before anybody said anything else, the carriage lurched forward and they began their trip to the Official Portal Site. Originally, it had been at Court, but the idea that the Portal was so nearby made Finn, Attia, and Keiro uncomfortable. Eventually Finn had the Portal moved to another location and relinquished all power over the Prison to Claudia. She was only to report to him the happenings of Incarceron if he requested it, and he never did.

The trip there was actually relatively short, but it still seemed to drag on for ages to Attia and Keiro. They had no idea how Finn was fairing with Claudia, but they were too wrapped up in their own mental states to be concerned with Finn's as well. When the door was opened by someone on the ground, Keiro and Attia remained still within the carriage, even as Mason climbed out first, disregarded custom. He held his hand out, obviously for Attia, but she wouldn't move until Keiro nudged her. Drawing in a deep breath, she released Keiro's hand and put her other hand in Mason's. She leaned on him more than she would have otherwise as she stepped out of the carriage, but as soon as Keiro was at her side, she entangled their fingers together so tightly she wondered for half a second whether or not there was blood flow in his fingers.

The building was clean and new, but Attia and Keiro didn't really care. They hadn't paid attention to anything anyway as Mason shuffled them towards the entrance to the building. To make the Portal secure for their trip, it'd been shut down to the public for the day on both sides and Charles already had men stationed all around the Portal site on both ends. When they finally got to the actual Portal, Claudia let King Logan and Queen Abigail pass through with all their guards and various servants. Then she had all the others from the Realm pass through until only she remained with Finn, Attia, and Keiro. When she turned back to the three, she noticed Attia was standing between Finn and Keiro, each of her hands occupied with the hands of the men on each of her sides.

Taking a deep breath, Claudia stepped towards Finn and offered her hand out to him. He seemed reluctant to release Attia's, but eventually did to take Claudia's instead. "Mason is on the other side," she told him, though she wasn't sure it would make any difference at all. Finn nodded at her words, and she realized she couldn't even be sure if the three could hear her at all.

Finn was the first to go through, and Claudia wanted to follow him but knew Attia and Keiro would never go through on their own. When she turned back to them, they were just staring at the Portal Finn had just passed through. Finally, Attia drew in a deep breath and took one step forward, her arm still connected to Keiro's. After a tug, he stepped forward with her, and they stepped through like that. Attia's first, their fingers intertwined, and Keiro following right behind her. Claudia was right behind Keiro, but she was cautious as she watched the three as they stared around the building they were in now.

It felt no different than the one they'd just been in. It looked exactly the same but the signs read Incarceron instead of Realm. Claudia also noted how all three were looking up and around the ceiling of the building like they were searching for something they couldn't yet find.

"Come on," she said finally when they seemed to adjust to their new setting. Finn took her outstretched hand and let her lead him through the building and outside.

Attia hadn't known what to expect. She knew it was supposed to be nice, but the expanse of grass and flowers and trees still surprised her. There were people in the distance, but nobody was nearby by virtue of Charles' well thought out security detail. It was designed to help the three keep their sanity and he'd done a damn good job at it so far. It was a short walk to where they would be staying, and as soon as they got there, they were divided up and sent in the directions of their rooms. Finn intentionally had his and Claudia's room across the hall from Attia's and Keiro's, so the four and their guards went up the stairs together.

"It's weird," Attia finally said. She was the first of the three to say anything since they'd passed through the Portal. They were walking down the hallway towards their room, the three in front of the rest, even Claudia. She wasn't used to not being a part of the three after being including for so long, but she tried not to let it bother her.

Neither Finn nor Keiro said anything in response, but Claudia somehow knew they'd agreed with her. Every few steps at least two of the three would look up and around at the ceiling and the top half of the walls, and she finally recalled her own trip Inside to retrieve Finn. Of course, if she told them that the Sapphique Assembly negotiated with Incarceron years ago to retract all his red eyes, they'd never believe her.

When they finally reached the two rooms, Attia fumbled with the key for a few seconds until she managed to get it into the lock. Keiro stepped into the room first and looked around. He would have been surprised at the size and upscale nature of the room that rivaled their own at Court if his eyes hadn't immediately looked up at all the corners of the room scanning for more red eyes. Attia did the same and when they were satisfied they realized Mason was standing to the side of the door way while the servants dropped their trunks near the bed and filed out of the room. When they were gone, Mason shut the door so the three were alone again.

"What do you keep looking for?" Mason finally asked as he met Attia's gaze, then shifted his eyes to Keiro. Both met his gaze, but neither said anything in response.


	20. Chapter 20

That night, Attia couldn't fall asleep, despite Keiro's best attempts. Since she was not sleeping and rolling around the bed, Keiro was unable to sleep as well. When she had started to fidget, he reached out and touched her waist, but withdrew his hand when she flinched at the touch.

"Sorry," Attia muttered as she rolled over to face him, her hand resting on his chest. "Didn't mean to pull away."

Keiro ignored the apology as he wrapped his arm around her to pull her against him. His eyes were closed, and he was obviously tired but still attempting to calm her nerves. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rest against his chest, feeling his chest rise and fall slowly, though she had a feeling he wasn't actually asleep yet.

"Will you walk with me?" she asked in barely a whisper. In the silence of the room, however, he'd heard her perfectly. He drew in a deep breath before he nodded and withdrew his arm from her waist to use it to push himself up. After getting into a seated position, he rubbed his eyes then pushed back the covers, and by then Attia had already slipped out of bed.

"What do you keeping thinking about?" he finally asked as he grabbed his coat from the floor where he'd left it and pushed his arms through the sleeves.

Attia heard the question, and he knew she heard the question, but she went on pretending he hadn't said anything at all. He didn't push the matter, so he just watched as she gathered her knives and cleverly placed them all over her body by means of their straps then closed the front of her coat. As she turned back to him, he held out his hand to her and she took it, even allowing him to open the door for her. At the sound of the door, their four guards came to attention and looked at the two, who said nothing as they started walking down the hallway.

"Does it have to do with whatever you did on the computer?" Keiro asked again, though he expected Attia to remain quiet on the topic. She peered up at him, met his gaze, then turned away, and he was half inclined to take that as a 'yes'. Since she was the one who wanted the walk, he let her lead the way down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the front lobby of the hotel like building. There were only a few workers behind the desk, and they were greatly outnumbered by Finn's guards' presence. At every entrance to the building, four guards were stationed, and every common room had three guards each. In addition to the four trailing silently behind Keiro and Attia, Keiro at least felt quite safe, given that he was definitely too tired to fight at any given moment. Attia, who had her entire portable armory strapped to her body, was probably so wired she didn't need any of those guards.

Of course, Keiro knew that if he had half as bad of an experience as Attia had on the Inside, he probably wouldn't be sleeping either. As desperately as he wanted to help her, there was nothing he could do except hold her hand and be with her when she needed it. That was what she'd asked him to do, and that was why he'd agreed to come. So in the middle of the night, when Attia couldn't sleep and he could, he forced himself out of bed and followed her through the building nearly half asleep without so much as a word of an argument.

When Attia led them to two sliding glass doors that opened to a closed off area outside, the guards posted at the door eyed them, before they nodded and let them through. It was a large courtyard with tables set up along the pathway, which cut through the grass and greenery planted around the area. Attia walked along the pathway for a little while, until she found a fountain and decided to sit on the ground beside it. Keiro sat beside her, and she quickly repositioned herself so that she was seated between his legs, her back resting against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and let his head rest against the cold stone edge of the fountain as he focused on the feel of her fingers drawing patterns into the back of his hands.

"They almost look real," Attia said softly, and Keiro pried open his eyes to see what she was talking about. Her eyes were casted upward, and Keiro tilted his head back again to peer upward to find the artificial sky above them colored a hue between black and blue and dotted with little white lights that rather closely resembled stars in a night sky.

"Those are new," Keiro commented as he tried to recall what the ceiling of the Prison looked like when they'd been trapped within It. He couldn't tell if it was all the years on the Outside, or just a result of his half-asleep state, but he couldn't recall exactly what Incarceron let them look at.

"Are they?" Attia questioned, obviously having the same dilemma he was.

"I can't tell," he replied honestly as he forced his head up because he could feel sleep starting to fall onto his eyes. He put his chin on her shoulder and tightened his grip around her as though the movements would help keep him awake for her sake. He started to place soft gentle kisses along her neckline, knowing that gentleness was what helped her maintain her sanity whenever her memories became too real. As he continued, he could feel her body relaxing in his arms and her breathing slow.

When the sound of the glass doors sliding open cut through the air, however, both went rigid, their bodies poised for an attack. Keiro's eyes snapped open, his head shot up. Attia's hand went to her side, her fingers making out the outline of the handle of a knife stored there, as she looked in the direction of the door as well. They couldn't see over the bushes, since they were seated, but when Finn's head came into view above the bushes, both relaxed. Keiro vaguely noted that the relaxed state of their guards should have tipped them off that they weren't in any real danger, but when his instinct kicked in like it had, he found he really didn't trust the guards as much as he'd have liked to.

"Can't sleep either?" Finn questioned as he looked down at the pair. Attia shook her head, and Keiro didn't respond but instead dropped his head back to the fountain and let his eyes drift shut. He could hear and fell Finn sitting beside him though.

"It's different here," Attia said as she turned to Finn. Finn nodded in response as he held her gaze.

"Claudia said I was over reacting," he admitted. Neither Attia nor Keiro had a response to that, but Finn hadn't been expecting one anyway.

"Where are all the…" Attia started but didn't finish her statement as she peered around them again, her eyes peeled for any sign of a glowing red dot.

"Claudia said they negotiated with It to retract them all unless requested to watch somebody in particular," Finn explained. He seemed to believe it, but Attia found herself searching for them anyway.

"Can It hear us?"

"Well, don't keep talking about It in case It can," Keiro put in. He felt Attia's shift in his arms, but she eventually forced herself to lean back on him again. Her heart was beating faster than it had been before, so he entangled their fingers in a desperate hope the gesture would calm her.

"Claudia says no," Finn answered Attia's question after a few moments, but that time it was obvious Finn doubted that.

"What are we supposed to do tomorrow?" Attia asked, changing the subject as she took Keiro's comment to heart. If the Prison wasn't listening to them now, she didn't want to give It a reason to start.

"Go on some scenery tour," Finn answered with a shrug. "Claudia planned the whole thing because I have no idea what's here."

"Isn't this part of your domain?" Attia questioned and Finn nodded.

"Doesn't mean I want anything to do with it," he explained and Attia nodded. She understood that. "You look like you're falling asleep, Keiro."

"I know," he answered as he smirked, but it quickly faded. He hadn't even bothered opening his eyes. "I'm just out here for the comfortable fountain as a pillow."

Attia ignored the comment because she could tell from his tone of voice that he was just making a sarcastic comment for the hell of it. He'd gone out there with her because she asked, and he'd go back in when she was ready.

A comfortable silence fell around the three as they relished in each other's company. Attia could clearly see Finn was at least envious that Attia and Keiro always had each other, but of course, that was a state of mind that would be gone as soon as they passed back through the Portal. For that reason, Attia didn't think much on it.

Somewhere in the background, they could hear some noise, but they'd stopped themselves from overreacting. Truly, getting ready to pull her knife on Finn was a bit of an overreaction, Attia mused. When footsteps grew nearer to them, Keiro pulled his head up and forced his eyes open as he anticipated someone coming around the corner within a few seconds. Irrational or not, Attia's hand when to her side and Finn braced himself as well as though at any moment he could spring up onto his feet.

Finn and Keiro relaxed again when the night janitor came around the corner, a broom handle in his hands. He paused as he saw the three, then seemed to recognize who they were. "Your Majesty," he said as he bowed his head slightly. At the sound of his voice, Attia pushed herself back into Keiro's chest, nearly crushing him against the fountain since he hadn't expected the movement. He felt her hand fumbling desperately within her coat until her fingers wrapped around the handle of her most accessible knife.

Keiro peered up at the man again, confused about what had sent Attia reeling into him, when he saw a flash of recognition flash across the janitor's face. He quickly averted his eyes and continued down the path, skipping sweeping the path the three were occupying in the process. "What?" Keiro asked her as he turned his attention back to her his arms tightening around her in an attempt to stop her movements.

"Nothing," Attia answered harshly as she forced Keiro's arms open and stood. Keiro's eyes dropped to her hand, where she held her knife, before he glanced up at her face again. In the few seconds it took her to stand, she'd managed to straighten it out, but Finn and Keiro weren't fooled. Both had stood as well, both concerned with her wellbeing, but it was obvious she wouldn't let them in on her thought process. "I'm going to bed," she declared simply as she started to turn towards the exit.

"Ok," Keiro said simply as he went towards her, but thought better of it and kept his distance. He let her lead the way back into the building, their four guards walking behind him. Before they reached the glass doors, however, Keiro paused and looked back. His eyes landed on Finn, who was slowing coming into the building as well, for a second, before his eyes found the janitor in the far corner of the courtyard. The man was already staring back at Keiro, which made it easier for the blonde to commit the face to memory.

Before Attia even noticed, Keiro was trailing behind her again.


	21. Chapter 21

Attia needed Keiro's gentle touches that night. He knew it had something to do with the older man they'd seen in the courtyard, that he'd pulled up some of her worse memories, but he didn't press her for any information. Instead, he let his hands travel up and down her body softly, his kisses doing the same. He didn't dominate her for any power in the moment, nor did he let his own passions dictate the mood of the moment. It was just sweet, gentle, and slow, all the things Attia never had until after they'd escaped.

The next morning, Attia was curled up with a pillow the way she usually was with him, giving him the best chance to slip out of bed without her noticing. Her face was peaceful, indicating her sleep wasn't wracked with nightmares, something that would've encouraged him to stay until she woke. So he slipped into yesterdays' clothes quickly and quietly before he went to the door and opened it to slip out of the room. Mason was present with the other three guards, but Keiro indicated for him to be quiet and to stay there as two of the other guards accompanied Keiro down the hall.

He went down the stairs, then scanned all the doors on the first floor until he found the Records Room. The two guards followed him into the room and to the back where an information desk was set up.

"Your Grace," the man behind the desk greeted as he lowered his head momentarily to Keiro. "How can I help you?"

"This is all the records of the Prison?"

"Of Incarceron, yes," the man answered with a nod. Keiro rolled his eyes at the distinction, but said nothing about it. Of course, it didn't much look like a prison anymore. "Was there something in particular you were looking for?"

"Do I have your discretion?" Keiro replied, eyebrow raised. The man cleared his throat as he nodded and motioned to the side where a door was labeled as a private office. He walked around the desk and produced a key from his pocket to unlock it and let Keiro in. The man and one guard followed him in, while the other guard stood outside the door.

"What would you like to see?" he asked after shutting the door behind them. Keiro had quickly made himself at home by sitting in the large chair behind the desk and playing with the lamp on the corner of the desk. He wondered if there really was electricity like there was on the Outside, or if Incarceron controlled all such things like it used to.

"Attia's records," Keiro finally answered as he shifted is gaze up to the man and retrieved his fingers from the switch on the base of the table lamp.

"I'll have to go into the restricted section to retrieve them, so it'll take a few minutes," the man answered. "Those, in addition to yours and the King's aren't available to the public, you see." Keiro only nodded, as though he'd already known that, but he was glad somebody had thought of that. He certainly wouldn't have. "Would you like me to pull the other restricted files that contain the High Duchess as well?"

"Yes," Keiro answered, as though he'd known such files had existed all along. The man nodded before he left the office and shut the door behind him. It was a few more minutes before he returned with eight large folders in his arms. He set them on the desk in front of Keiro and asked if there was anything else. After Keiro shook his head, the man left, and Keiro looked up at the guard before motioning for him to leave as well. When he was alone in the room, Keiro looked at the names on the cover of each folder, finding Attia's located among them. Ronan's and Kyra's were there as well, but he pushed them off to the side.

He decided to look through Attia's first, well aware that when she found out he'd have to pay for the intrusion. It wasn't so much a question of whether or not he could keep it from her, just how long he'd be able to keep it from her before she inevitably found out. The first few pages of her folder were uneventful so he started skipping pages until an image caught his attention. He stared down at the moving image as a young girl, perhaps eight or nine, with another girl who was a few years younger.

Keiro knew immediately the younger of the two was Kyra, the sister Attia named their daughter for. It was striking how alike his daughter and Attia's sister were. Keiro had always assumed Kyra was like Attia, but as he watched the two young girls interact with each other, he realized Kyra really was more like her namesake than her mother. Attia was still hard-faced, even as a child, and wholly determined to reach into a locked box with her tiny hands to retrieve some valuables inside. In the background, a much younger version of Ronan was distracting the owner of the box, with little Kyra looking out from the side to warn Attia if the man was coming back to his belongings. The scene was amusing to Keiro, who shouldn't have expected anything else, but was surprised all the same. Kyra was cute and defiantly sweet given her situation of false imprisonment, where as Attia was all the things she was today.

Deciding, he had enough information on that, Keiro skipped the next few pages, slowing his skipping when he noticed Kyra had disappeared completely from Attia's folder. He watched as she was betted on and paid for, shackled and dragged behind some older man who ordered her around. She was useful as a girl, he noticed. She was small, quiet, and unthreatening. She could slip into places and get out before anyone even noticed her. Her little hands could reach into any crook or nanny and retrieve whatever valuables were hidden there. She could pick locks faster than grown men three times her age. She made her owner's investment in her worth it ten times over, easily, but Keiro knew she'd become less valuable as a thief the older—and more developed—she became.

Sure enough, within the next few pages, the little thief had transformed into the woman Keiro knew now. Her face lost its baby fat, her body changed, growing in her chest, narrowing in her waist, and then the attention she got at all the bargains and sales was of an entirely different nature. Surprisingly Keiro kept his temper under control as he watched the first man who bought her use her for the purpose he'd bought her for. It was undoubtedly her first time Keiro was watching glimpses of. She certainly looked to be in enough pain for that, though of course the man wasn't exactly all that concerned for her. Though the records were silent, Keiro could swear he could hear the glass-shattering scream coming from her throat the way it rippled when her lips parted. He man had started slam her around, and Keiro flipped the page before he could watch too much of it.

He tried to skim through all the men until he found the janitor, but it seemed impossible not to stop and stare at all the things that'd been done to her before he knew her. It was no wonder she so desperately needed him to be gentle and loving whenever her memories felt too real. He suddenly understood that deep rooted need of hers to feel cared for and cared about.

A couple purchases later, Keiro found a much younger version of the janitor in Attia's records. He had an evil glint in his eyes when he handed over the gold to pay for her. Attia's eyes were hard and cold, devoid of any emotions at all, as she held the man's gaze. She was determined not to be broken, but Keiro had a very serious fear within him that her determination would be no competition for the man's sheer evilness.

Within the next few entries, Keiro's fear had gotten worse. That particular man had treated her worse than any of the others before, something he hadn't even though possible. He'd used weapons against her, and used her long hair to drag her across the floor in his temper tantrums. He was obviously the reason Attia had gotten so good at handling her knives. The man left them littered all over the place and she so liked to throw them dangerously close to his sleeping form. She never injured him though, and Keiro knew why. Despite the fact that he tossed her around, threatened her, raped her, he also fed her. She wasn't self-sufficient, at least not yet. She was barely sixteen or seventeen based on her appearance. Of course, Keiro could've been underestimating since she was so small due to malnutrition.

He watched a few more entries of her time with him and they were progressively worse. For the first time in the record, since the scene of her father leaving, Keiro saw Attia cry. It appeared to be the middle of the night, her captor fast asleep after having raped her again. It seemed so sadistic of the Prison to record her then. Record her so broken and vulnerable and armed yet defenseless all at the same time. Her fire of determination was so close to being blown out when Keiro saw a woman enter into her life in the next entry.

She was part of the Civicry. That much Keiro could tell. She'd taken Attia out of that position and fed her and clothed her and housed her in the cells of the Civicry. She was happy. A momentary and very fleeting time of happiness when she slept alone and ate well, or at least better than before. Then Keiro watched people he knew, people he recognized raid the group of cells. Attia cut her hair and marked her face, terrified to return to the life she'd just escaped. And Keiro found he didn't blame her for half a second when they slapped the dog collar around her neck and made her crawl on her hands and knees. Eating off of the floor with the looming threat of poison was hundreds of times better than the life she had until that point. It wasn't a life with the Civicry, but it wasn't a life as somebody's person sex toy either, and that seemed to be all Attia had hoped for.

He shut the folder then, deciding he'd seen more than he should have. He felt like he'd pried into a part of her life she kept locked away for good reason. She rarely said anything about her sister, but Attia had hardly even known her anyway. She'd let her father into her life, since he seemed to be the nicest person in her entire life on the Inside, and that was saying something considering the way he'd abandoned her. Keiro realized he'd forgotten that fact over all the years they'd spent vacationing with him and his wife. Ronan wasn't so terrible anymore, Keiro knew, and was even a good grandfather to their children, but he had abandoned his daughters all those years ago. How Attia could live with that, Keiro wasn't sure, but he sure as hell wouldn't ask her when she'd finally put it all that behind her.

He stacked up the folders and carried them out of the office, dropping them heavily on the informational desk before he retreated from the Records Room without so much as acknowledging anybody else at all. As he left the room, Finn and Claudia were coming towards him, so he paused and waited for them to reach him. Finn came up to his side and Keiro turned his head towards him as they continued walking without missing a step. Claudia had backed away from the two, her feelings of exclusion bubbling up again.

"Do I have to ask what you were doing in there?" Finn asked quietly so only Keiro could hear.

"Probably not."

"Did you like what you found?"

"Well, when his dead body falls out of a coat closet, maybe you'll get your answer," Keiro answered bitterly.

"I assume she said nothing to you about it."

"Of course not. She doesn't like to talk about it."

"How long will you make it before she finds out you went snooping through her past?" Finn questioned as he motioned to a corner, signaling Keiro to turn when they reached it. Keiro realized Finn was leading him to the dining hall, but didn't think much on it.

"I don't know. Couple days, I guess."

"Really?" Finn laughed as he stepped away from Keiro, his voice becoming louder. Claudia could hear them now, but she doubted they'd say anything else of importance. "I was thinking hours."

Keiro rolled his eyes but said nothing. He'd eyes Attia and Mason seated at one of the circular tables with trays in front of them, so he'd gone in that direction while Finn and Claudia went to dine with King Logan and Queen Abigail at one of the large tables. Attia's eyes shot up to Keiro when he appeared between her and Mason and pulled out the chair. "Where were you?" she asked and he turned to her and shrugged.

"Just walking," he answered with a flash of a smile. He would've leaned in to kiss her, but thought that might raise suspicions, so instead he reached for half eaten bowl of cereal and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth. In the back of his mind, he could imagine the janitor—a man who's name Keiro hadn't even thought to find out—pulling on Attia's hair, his fingers wrapped tightly around her throat. Keiro chocked on a bite of cereal when his mind had brought to forefront of his vision an image of Attia's helpless body pinned beneath het janitor's much larger frame as she clawed his back desperate for escape until she went limp beneath him.

"Are you alright?" Mason asked as he eyed Keiro curiously.

"Yes," Keiro answered quickly as he finished Mason's water and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, rather than use a napkin like the civilized noble he could be. Attia and Mason exchanged a glance that wasn't lost on Keiro, he was just too preoccupied scanning all the faces of the people in the room searching for anyone who might've popped up in Attia's past.

"Are you finished with breakfast?" Claudia asked as she approached the table, pulling Keiro's attention up to her.

"Yeah, we are," Attia answered, her eyes narrowed critically at Keiro. She rolled her eyes and nodded as she looked up at Claudia. "Are we leaving now?"

"Going for a tour around the area," she explained, though she doubted Attia or Keiro cared. "Finn wanted to know if you were feeling up to it," she added, her gaze only on Attia even though she had Keiro's attention as well. Attia rose an eyebrow, knowing Finn remembered her near breakdown in the courtyard last night.

"Yes," Attia answered as she cleared her throat. "We are."

Claudia only nodded at the answer and turned back around to walk between her two guards and head towards where Finn was keeping King Logan and Queen Abigail company.

"Are you sure?" Keiro asked without turning his eyes off of Finn and their royal company.

"Of course," Attia answered sharply, sounding offended that he'd questioned her judgment. Keiro held her gaze as he nodded in agreement and started to rise from his seat.


	22. Chapter 22

The tour of Incarceron was boring from the standpoint of Keiro, Attia, and Finn, but King Logan and Queen Abigail were endlessly fascinated by the greenery, the fancy buildings built in ever style imaginable, the rivers, the waterfalls, the strange hybrid creatures the Prison undoubtedly had a figurative hand in creating. To the three escapees it felt like a joke. Like the Prison was showing off it's amazing capability of transforming into whatever it wanted. Like it could've been all those beautiful things all along but cruelly choose not to. Of course, that's the truth, but they never needed it to be rubbed in their faces.

And though not one of them would openly admit it, their trip so far wasn't even half as terrible as expected. Yes, Attia had a run in with some memories best left locked away and repressed, but that was still loads better than getting shut in the Prison again, the artificial sun disappearing a replaced with harsh fluorescent lights that better help little red eyes find its tortured targets. Keiro, however, still glared at a little flower he picked up from the ground as though he were testing if it would really pluck right out of the ground like the flowers at home or if it would short circuit and stay connected to the ground through a series of tangled and electrified wires. But of course, the flower came right out of the ground like all the ones Kyra picks on a daily basis. Truly, how can she continue to find so many flowers daily? Court should have run out of them for years, and would have, if she wasn't so easily distracted by colorful weeds that look like flowers.

The thought of Kyra relaxed Keiro's gaze as he dropped the flower to the ground again. For the first time, he missed her—and Finn and Chris—so badly that his chest physically ached and his hand instinctively went to reach for Attia's hand. She was the closest to him, but it did little to alleviate how badly he missed their children, even if they annoyed him on a regular basis.

"Surviving?" Claudia teased as she approached the three. One look from Finn told her that it wasn't the time or place for such a taunt since surviving was their very real goal of the trip. "Alright, come on, I told you it wouldn't be that bad here. See?" she questioned as she turned and motioned to the landscaping around them. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked as she turned her gaze back to Keiro and Attia, her smile sweet and genuine. Keiro and Attia, however, just stared at her, both trying very hard not to let their eyes get cold and hard, not to let their faces shift into glares. Before they ran out of patience for her, they turned to walk away leaving Claudia only with the company of her husband.

Mason and the other three guards followed behind the pair, so Keiro moved to stand behind Attia, his hands resting on her waist as he bent down to align his lips with the shell of her ear. "The longer we're here, the more likely that somebody's going to get murdered," he whispered to her. Attia laughed as she peered over her shoulder to look up at him, her smile grim because of the comment she found so amusing.

"Who tops the list?" she asked as she reached to her waist to touch Keiro's hand. He let her intertwine their fingers as he tried to think of an acceptable replacement for the janitor, who definitely topped his list of possible murder victims.

"I don't know, Logan, I guess," Keiro answered, trying to sound uninterested, but he had a feeling Attia had seen through it. She narrowed her eyes at him, her head tilted slightly to the side, but she ultimately said nothing.

By the time they got back to where they were staying, it was dark and Incarceron's stars were getting brighter. Attia and Keiro were leading the way into the building while Finn and Claudia were forced to linger behind with King Logan and Queen Abigail, who weren't quite ready for the day to end. A late dinner had been prepared for the group, so as soon as Attia and Keiro stepped inside, they were guided to a formal dining hall set with the finest cutlery. Within a few minutes, Finn and Claudia came into the room and took their seats, Finn at the head of the table, Claudia on the other side of him. Various others were seated at the table, Charles and Mason included among them, between Finn and King Logan, who sat at the other end of the table.

The meal was mediocre to Keiro and Attia, who weren't really paying attention to how anything tasted. If it was better than what they'd eaten last time they'd been Inside, then they weren't in any position to be complaining. When they finished, they stood from the table without looking for permission from any royal person seated, a gesture King Logan had simply gotten accustomed to from the pair of them, and started to make their way out of the dining hall. Mason had quickly finished up his meal to follow them, since he was technically still on duty as one half of Attia's guard, even if he was a close associate to the King.

They walked down the hall towards the staircase, the four guards walking behind them. As they went up the stairs, Attia took Keiro's hand while he reached out to push open the door. Attia managed to stay in bed for roughly a few hours before she sat up and leaned back against the headboard. Keiro groaned as he forced himself up to sit beside her. She automatically leaned against him, his arm moving to wrap around her shoulders.

"Why doesn't being here bother you as much as it bothers me?" Attia questioned, her voice hardly any louder than a whisper.

"It does bother me," he answered as he turned his head to press a kiss to her forehead. "Just… I don't have things haunting me around every corner."

"What bothers you then?"

"Your old friend, for starters."

"Keiro," Attia chided as she pushed off of his chest to look up at him with stern eyes.

"What?" he replied sharply as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I didn't kill him yet, if that counts for anything."

"Yet?"

"What? You don't want him dead? You should."

"And why should I?" she replied sharply. If they'd been at Court, she'd have already gotten out of bed and left the room, but they were Inside and he doubted she could go anywhere at night now, knowing who could possibly be literally around any corner.

"Because of what-" Keiro stopped himself, but he had a feeling he'd already said enough to condemn himself.

"You looked through my records," she accused, not even bothering with asking him. He wanted to deny it, and would have, but again, their entire dynamic seemed completely different on the Inside than on the Out.

"It's not like there was anything in there that I didn't already know," Keiro replied, sounding more defensive than he cared for. He was trying to make it sound like there wasn't a problem with his snooping, but a defensive edge was counterproductive to that.

"There's a difference between knowing and actually seeing it," she spat back at him.

"What difference?" he challenged as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I didn't want you to see any of it, Keiro," she replied, eyes narrowed as well. They'd never had an argument in bed, and Keiro could see her fighting to urge to get out. Of course, he didn't actually blame her if fighting with him in bed was a lesser evil compared to the janitor who could be right outside their room.

"Why? What difference does it make? You didn't want me to see you? Didn't want me to see your sister? I knew you when you were chained and beaten."

"That was different!"

"How?"

"I wasn't-" Attia started but stopped herself. She swallowed and shut her eyes as she slid back down to her back and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. She rolled onto her side and curled her arm around her pillow.

"Broken?" Keiro finished for her. Her entire body frozen, from the inside out, and she hoped her will was enough to get it work again. When she felt his hand on her waist, she realized her will wasn't nearly as strong as his touch, and she nearly melted against him as he aligned himself along her body. "That's why you're so scared of him. I've never seen you scared before. You're scared of him because you think he broke you."

He'd seen her cry before, and yet she felt like he'd think she was helpless if he knew tears were threatening her eyes. Again, it was battle between her will to hold the tears back, and his touch as his lips touched her neck, coaxing them out of her. And again, he won.

"I don't think he broke you," Keiro finally said in her ear before he pressed kisses all along her jaw line. He could feel her body trembling with the silent tears, but he wrapped his arms around her tighter even though there was no more space between their bodies.

"Why?" she finally asked, proud of herself for making her voice sound less pathetic than she felt.

"Because when I knew you Inside, you still believed in an Outside. Believed that we could get out. Broken people don't have the energy to dream, let alone to follow them."

"Every time I see him or think of him, I go right back to that time, like nothing ever happened. Like this was just a dream or something."

Keiro didn't know what it was like to have nightmares like hers. Ones that came alive. He'd always dealt with his problems by looking at them in black and white. If he hadn't killed one person or another, or stole from one person or another, he wouldn't have survived, wouldn't have gotten out, wouldn't be there with her at that moment. Of course, Attia couldn't very well start rationalizing why everything that had happened to her happened at all. So he just tightened his grip on her once again and continued to press his kisses against any bare skin he could find. Eventually, she turned him his arms and put her arms around his neck, her lips searching for his.

That was probably the only thing he'd ever done to soothe her, and he was good at it. He could be gentle and sweet and loving, but the problem with it was that as soon as it was over, her mind went right back to being tormented by all its demons.

The next morning, it was obvious they'd hardly slept. Finn, it seemed, hadn't sleep very well either, but he was too consumed with King Logan and Queen Abigail to pay much attention to them. He mostly only needed them to make sure he hadn't gone insane yet, and Keiro and Attia only needed to be alive for that not necessarily well rested.

"We're having a public feast tonight," Claudia announced as she approached Keiro and Attia's breakfast table and helped herself to one of the extra seats between Mason and Attia.

"Fantastic," Keiro replied sarcastically as he peered up at her.

"We're only here for a few more days," Claudia replied.

"Do we look like we can go a few more days to you?" Keiro questioned as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You look like you're exhausted."

"Yeah, no sleep will do that to you," Attia replied sharply.

"Then sleep," Claudia replied as she narrowed her eyes, her gaze shifting from Attia to Keiro.

"I will kill you, you know," Keiro reminded her, not really aware that it had been years since there had been any tension between he and Claudia, and even between Attia and Claudia.

"When you're this tired?" Claudia replied with a laugh, though her eyes caught movement of Keiro's fingers tightening around his table knife.

"Try me," he challenged and Claudia rolled her eyes as she stood up.


	23. Chapter 23

The large ballroom of the building had already been decorated and rearranged when Keiro and Attia got there, each dressed in their formal attire as Finn had directly requested of them. After so long going without one, Attia found her corset tight and restricting, but Keiro had promised to take it off of her before the night ran out with a grin across his face. The far end of the hall had been recreated in the style of the hall at Court with a high table elevated above the rest of the room.

No guests were allowed to enter yet so only servers, dressed in identical uniforms, moved around the room as they placed drinks and appetizers on all the tables that lined the two longest walls of the room. On the far end of the room, Finn and Claudia were speaking with Charles and Mason, so Keiro and Attia went in that direction.

"Guests will start being let in in half an hour," Charles said, his words directed to Finn initially, but he turned to look at Attia and Keiro as they approached.

"So that's when we get to leave?" Keiro asked and Finn turned to him, hardly able to suppress his smile.

"Perhaps a little after that if you can manage," Finn answered sarcastically. "It's just going to be for show, so try and be nice."

"You've been a little demanding lately first with dragging us here, then making us be nice," Keiro pointed out.

Finn laughed again as he rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he motioned for Mason to follow him to the main entrance to the ballroom. Charles lingered back with Attia and Keiro since Claudia turned away to speak with a server with a question. "I hear you had a bit of a run in with a ghost," Charles commented as he fixed his gaze on Attia. She held his gaze as steadily as she could, but the way Keiro shifted at the question was enough for Charles to get his answer. "We tightened security," Charles said since he knew he wouldn't get a verbal answer.

"He works here," Attia finally said, her voice sounding weaker than usual.

"We'll get it, don't worry," Charles answered with a smile before he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. "Besides, Finn's considering ending the trip short after tonight, so maybe try a hang on a little longer."

"Easy for you to say," Keiro said, pulling Charles' attention to him and away from Attia as she reached to her side to entangle her fingers with Keiro's. Charles only nodded once to Keiro before he excused himself and walked away.

For the duration of the feast, Keiro and Attia went with the motions. They sat up at the high table with Claudia, Finn, Queen Abigail, and King Logan, which minimized their interaction with any of the guests below them. Attia hardly touched her food, but the server tasked with keeping all the wineglasses on the high table full had a busy night as she kept downing her white wine. When the server stepped up to the table again to fill her glass, Keiro put his hand over the top of it, earning a glare from Attia, but she didn't press the matter as Keiro had the server bring her a glass of water.

After the main course had been served, the center of the ballroom cleared for dancing. Finn sent them a look from the center of the high table as he stood up with Claudia's hand in his. Keiro sighed as he turned to Attia, who was already holding up her hand for him. The gesture, for whatever reason, pulled a smile out of him as he took her hand and started to stand as well. After Finn and Claudia passed by them, Attia and Keiro stepped out from the table and followed them to the dance floor.

Years ago, Attia could feel her body tensing and bracing itself for a dance with Keiro, but now she relaxed almost completely into him as he wrapped his arm around her waist and took her hand in his other. She smiled as she put her fingers gently against the back of his neck. Their eyes locked, another difference from their dances long in the past, and a smile appeared across Attia's lips as they started to move in dance steps they learned on the Outside during Finn's early reign.

Eventually, other couples started fill in all the extra space around the dance floor, but were careful to leave space around Keiro and Attia and Finn and Claudia. The people at the feast were not Courtiers who knew how to act around royalty, but commoners who'd never dreamed of being so close to royalty in their lives. Ironically, most of the commoners there still had better pasts than Keiro, Attia, and Finn, because anybody on the Inside got out as quickly as they could and swore they'd never return no matter how much of a paradise it was now.

As they continued to linger on the dance floor, even if they'd stopped actually dancing and were just rocking back and forth, Keiro stole a few brief kisses, and Attia returned them. Eventually, she pulled her arms down from his neck and took one of his hands as she turned to lead him back towards the high table. Keiro put his free hand on her waist and bent down to align his lips with her ear to whisper some inappropriate comment about later that night, but didn't when Attia suddenly stopped. Keiro had bumped into her, not excepting her to have stopped, but when he realized she'd completely tensed up, he looked down at her, to see a man's hand wrapped firmly around her wrist on the arm that was holding his hand.

Keiro's eyes shot up to see who'd grabbed onto Attia's hand, and his instincts had dictated the next few seconds before he even realized what had happened. He'd stepped around Attia, one hand wrapping around her arm above the janitor's hand while his other arm swung out at the old man's neck in an instant. He'd cried out at the impact, his grip releasing on Attia's arm. She'd quickly pulled her arm back, but Keiro tightened his fingers around her wrist to stop her from leaving his immediate presence. She hardly noticed anyway, since he felt her other hand touch his shoulder her fingers digging into his flesh.

Within seconds, the space around them cleared except for the guards who came at once, Charles and Mason among them. When the janitor got to his feet again, Keiro realized he was dressed in suit as were all the other male guests, but it didn't stop Keiro from stepping towards him, with every intent of striking him again. The combined effects of Attia pulling on his shoulder and Mason stepping in front of him stopped Keiro from advancing on the man Charles had stepped in to restrain.

Suddenly, Finn and Claudia were at Keiro's side, Claudia demanding answers and Finn staring at the Charles and the janitor. "Come on," Finn said, stopping Claudia mid-sentence, as he grabbed Attia's hand off of Keiro's shoulder. Finn tucked Attia's arm around his own and walked with her briskly towards the back entrance to the ballroom, Keiro walking right behind them as he shook out his hand, which now ached after the impact. Claudia was rushing behind him with Mason right beside her whispering in her ear what had happened. In the hall just outside the ballroom, they were surrounded by servers and only Mason as a guard, but nobody even noticed.

"Increase in security?" Keiro questioned immediately when Finn's gaze landed on him.

"I didn't know this was going to happen, Keiro," Finn replied sharply as he released Attia's arm. She would have wrapped it around Keiro's, but he was still tensed, his hurting arm still shaking and flexing to dull the pain.

"What happened?" Claudia asked, still uncertain even with Mason's brief but incomplete explanation.

"Nothing," Finn and Keiro answered at the same time, though Keiro's tone of voice was considerably harsher than Finn's. Before any other arguments could be made, Charles came through the back door entrance of the ballroom.

"We're taking him through here," he said simply. Finn nodded as he turned to Mason.

"Take her somewhere," he ordered simply as he reached out for Keiro's arm before he could escape with Attia and Mason. "You're coming with me," Finn said simply before he turned his attention to Claudia. "I need you to handle the feast," he said before he pressed his lips to hers in a quick and brief kiss. Just as she started towards the door, two of the royal guards were escorting the janitor into the hallway and Finn's grip tightened almost painfully around Keiro's wrist to get his message across. Keiro, who'd gotten the point, violently pulled his arm out of Finn's grasp and walked behind him as they followed Charles and the other royal guards down the hallway in the opposite direction Attia and Mason had gone in.

Charles lead them into a office like room with a table in the center of the room. The royal guards let the janitor sit in one of the chairs and as he put his hands on the table, Finn saw Charles had the man's wrists bound with handcuffs. Finn motioned Keiro to go to the far side of the room, then looked to Charles. "Take his knives," Finn ordered before he put his palms against the table and leaned forward slightly.

"Finn!" Keiro protested, but Finn didn't even bother looking up.

"Don't make him knock you out, Keiro," Finn threatened, and though it was mostly hollow, Keiro complied until Chares had removed all three of his concealed weapons and allowed him back to the table. He sat on the far end as far away from the janitor as possible, and Finn drew in a deep breath before he peered up, still unsure of what to do with the situation. If they'd been at Court, he wouldn't have hesitated, but he wasn't sure what to do with the entire situation when they had none of their usually accessible resources. For one, there was no Council to make a decision on punishment if need be.

"He's fairly lucky to still be breathing, and if-"

"I know, Keiro," Finn said before he could continue. Finn turned is gaze to him. "I know. I've pretty much put it together on my own, even if I didn't go spying on Attia."

"Looking through a record isn't spying," Keiro replied sharply as he narrowed his eyes.

"Really?" Finn asked sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "I don't suppose you'd like to tell us who he is, anyway?"

"I don't know his name, if that's what you're asking," Keiro answered. "If you want a run down of the things he did-"

"No," Finn said as he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Why did you even want to see those things in the first place, Keiro? You knew what it was without looking for it."

"You sound like Attia, now," Keiro accused and Finn let out a heavy sigh before he looked up at the two spare guards who'd escorted the janitor into the room.

"Leave us," he said with a nod to each of them. They filed out of the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Finn, Keiro, Charles, and the janitor.

"I only wanted to talk to her," the janitor suddenly exclaimed and Keiro let out a half laugh that sounded more demented than amused.

"When you're dead, maybe," Keiro commented as his eyes went cold and his stared hardened. "And you might not have to wait that long."

"Keiro," Finn chided and Keiro let out another dry laugh as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes flicked to Charles for a second, eyeing the knives the Commander had just recently acquired.

"You're the one who attacked me!"

"And you can thank me any time," Keiro shot back as he leaned forward suddenly.

"For what?" the janitor spat, his own gaze hardening as well, but Keiro was far more intimidating than the janitor could ever hope to be.

"For not killing you the first time around."

"Enough," Finn snapped as he turned to Keiro. "We cannot have any suspicions around us while Logan and Abigail are here," he said strongly, knowing Keiro's mind was too busy planning out his next murder to pay attention to Finn's sensitive political situation.

"We'll label it a 'missing persons', then," Keiro suggested, his tone eerily cheer about the topic.

"You are not going to murder him, Keiro," Finn said bluntly a she held Keiro's gaze. "And he's right, you assaulted him."

"I should charge you in the court," the janitor boldly spoke, and Finn groaned as he rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table.

"You do that," Keiro laughed before he turned back to Finn. "What's the maximum sentence for rape, Finn?"

"Keiro, don't-"

"Ten years," Charles answered and Finn looked up at Charles, suddenly aware Charles could just as easily distracted by Attia's well being as Keiro.

"Charles," Finn called, hoping to get the Commander back to his side of the conversation.

"Oh, ok, see, now I'm not good at math because I barely know to count above three. Cause I have three children, and Attia, that's her name, by the way, in case you forgot, is my wife," Keiro explained, still rather cheerfully as he stared across the table at the janitor. The man's face had quickly paled, but Keiro continued on. "So how long exactly could you go to prison with twenty three counts of rape at ten years a piece?" Keiro asked as he rose his eyebrow. "See, I counted them when I went through her record from Inside. Twenty three, that the Prison recorded. We can always make the argument that there were—what—a million people Inside, and It can't keep track of all your crimes every second of the day, now can It?"

The room went silent as Keiro stared across the table at the janitor, who just swallowed as he tried to think of anything to say.

"Somebody do the math," Keiro snapped and Charles let out a breath as he turned to Keiro.

"Two hundred and thirty years, Keiro," Charles answered and Keiro nodded, looking rather smug with himself.

"Two hundred and thirty years," Keiro repeated as he narrowed his eyes at the janitor. "Too bad, only non-violent crimes were pardoned Inside, huh? Maybe if you'd been a little nicer, though I can't imagine there's a nice way to rape a fifteen year old."

"Keiro , that's enough," Finn said finally as he peered up at his old friend.

"I don't think it is."

"Go see her now, Keiro. I'll arrange for you both to go back to Court first thing in the morning."

"I'll be waiting for your court case for assault," Keiro snapped as he turned to janitor for a second, then left the room, slamming the door rather dramatically behind him.


	24. Chapter 24

Keiro barely made it halfway down the hallway before he felt Attia's arms wrap around his neck. She buried her face in his chest as she clutched to him, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She never broke down in public, but Keiro had a feeling she'd barely held herself together for that long as it was. Mason stood only a few feet away, his eyes directed elsewhere for their privacy, but he was still close enough to hear Keiro whispering in her ear.

"It's alright," he promised as he tightened his grip around her, one hand running up and down her back. He'd started to pull softly on the ribbons of her corset to loosen it and make her more comfortable, but he doubted she'd even noticed.

Due to the feast, they were mostly alone with only one or two people passing by every few minutes, so he didn't make any attempt to move her towards their room. Instead, he just let her keep pressing against him until he'd stepped back against the wall to support them both. He could feel her heart beating unnaturally fast against her back so he kept rubbing her back and pressing kisses to her temple and forehead.

"Come on," he whispered softly to her as he tried to look down and meet her gaze. He kept one arm around her back as they turned to start walking down the hall towards their room, Mason trailing right behind them. Keiro still didn't know any other way to help her, but he assumed actually being touched by her past was more unnerving than just the memories coming alive, so he tried his best at keeping her distracted.

With soft gentle kisses against her neck, he unlaced her corset and pulled it away from her body. She did nothing but stand there as he undressed her, all while keeping his lips glued to her bare skin. At some point, he peeled off his shirt and under shirt because when she felt his arms slip around her waist she could feel his bare chest pressed against her back. He started to walk forward slowly until they reached the bed, when she finally turned around in his arms to kiss him back. It was the most effort she'd made since they'd gotten into their room so Keiro accepted her kiss eagerly.

After laying her down on the bed gently, his hands continued to fumble with her skirt and the rest of their clothes until they were both free of them. In the back of his mind, he couldn't stop the thoughts that the janitor had stirred, though he did his best to focus on the present moment.

She laid against him in the middle of the night, almost afraid of straying too far from his arms. His arm stayed around her shoulders as she peered up at him and smiled. He returned the smile before he kissed her forehead gently and held her gaze. "Finn is arranging for us to go back to Court tomorrow," Keiro told her. She held his gaze for a long moment before she nodded slowly.

"I want to see Kyra and Finn and Chris."

"I know," Keiro answered with a laugh before he captured her lips in his.

"She's as old as I was when my father left."

Keiro swallowed as he forced himself to nod. "I know," he repeated as he rolled to his side slightly so he could face her, his other hand moving to rest on her waist. "But you're not going to leave her, and neither am I, and none of the things that happened to us are going to happen to them."

Attia's body stilled for a moment, before she forced in a breath and nodded. She pressed herself against him, her face burying in his neck to press a kiss there. "And we're never going to come back here again, no matter what happens."

"She reminds me of my sister," Attia said suddenly as she pulled away from Keiro to meet his gaze. He already knew she was talking about Kyra, their daughter, since he'd noticed the similarity between the two Kyra's when he'd looked through Attia's record.

"I can see that," he told her as he nodded. "They have the same smile. The same temperament."

"And you always accused me of cloning myself."

Keiro laughed as he nodded and let himself drop to the bed completely. Attia snuggled under his arm again and rested against his chest. "I guess you and your sister were more alike than you thought, then," Keiro told her. "Because she's certainly nothing like me at all."

"I think you're wrong," Attia replied and Keiro rose an eyebrow though she could see his disbelief. "She's carefree like you are. She didn't get that from me."

"She's a child," Keiro pointed out and felt Attia shrug in response.

"She's more carefree than Chris is, and he was never like she is when he was that young," Attia replied. "And she doesn't give a shit what anybody thinks when she insists on wearing her clothes inside out or going to dinner in dirty clothes. That's a trait Finn didn't have and you certainly do."

"She gets along with Charlotte like you and Claudia," Keiro pointed out.

"I think Charlotte is more like Finn than Claudia," Attia laughed as she pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked down at Keiro. "She's reasonable and passionate and curious. John is the stubborn hardheaded one."

"No question who Chase is like," Keiro laughed and Attia laughed as well as they nodded.

"Casper," they said at once as Attia collapsed onto Keiro's chest and put an arm across his body as his tightened around her shoulders once more.

"I miss them all."

"Yeah, you can't wait to get rid of them until you actually do," Keiro commented with a tone of bitter sarcasm even if there was some truth to his words. Attia remained quiet as she stilled against Keiro. He would've thought she was asleep, except she never fell asleep so quickly. "There was one thing in your record that I couldn't figure out."

"What?" Attia asked, surprisingly. He'd expected her to ignore the comment completely.

"You cried after the Civicry had rescued you. You were in one of their cells and you looked… more or less happy, but then in the next entry, you were crying. Just absolutely sobbing, and I thought it was just because of everything that happened, but you're not like that at all. You put things away and lock them up until something forces them out again. You don't just break down for no reason."

"You want to know why I cried with the Civicry?" she asked as she pushed herself up onto her elbow again and casted her gaze down onto Keiro. He swallowed before he nodded all while holding her gaze.

"I was pregnant and it was his," Attia answered finally, the shock registering across Keiro's face. "But I miscarried when he beat me that last time and it haunted me in a way nothing else anybody had ever done to me had."

"You leaving the room after the miscarriage in the middle of the night," Keiro started but Attia nodded to his comment all the same.

"It made everything real again like being here does," Attia answered as she swallowed. Her voice was still strong and clear but she could feel the tightening of her throat that threatened to keep her silent. She drew in a breath but it was obviously shaky so Keiro pulled her back down to his embrace. "Had you ever been with someone on the Inside?" she finally asked when her voice came back to her.

"Yeah," Keiro answered with a nod. "Those were more like…"

"Morgan?"

"No, nothing like Morgan," Keiro laughed as he held her gaze. "But nothing like you, either. And they were consensual, if that's what you're asking."

The next morning, Attia woke up still pressed against Keiro's chest. She tilted her head back to look up at Keiro to find him already awake, eyes watching her. "No nightmare," Keiro informed her simply before he bent down to kiss her. She leaned up to meet the kiss, one hand snaking up to his neck. Keiro, inspired by her reaction, deepened the kiss and rolled them over so that he laid above her, his weight distributed both his knees on each side on her hips and one forearm as the other hand slowly slide down her side and slipped under her shirt to press against her bare skin.

She moaned at the touch, her body arching up into it as though it'd been weeks since she'd last felt it not mere hours. Of course, Keiro rather liked her reaction, so his continued to kiss her as his hand continued moving along her side. When he pulled from her lips, she dropped her head back to the pillow, eyes still closed, and exposed her neck to his lips. He followed the curve of her neck to her collar bone, his lips still continuing to leave kisses anywhere he could reach. Her arms had gone around his neck and locked in place there, not that he minded her keeping him in place above her.

When they started moving around the room getting ready, a knock at the door pulled Keiro away from packing his trunk. After opening the door, he stepped to the side and let Mason into the room without asking the reason he was knocking.

"The carriages are ready on the other side of the Portal," Mason told him, his eyes first only on Keiro, but shifting to Attia when she emerged from the closet of the room.

"Alright, Mason," Attia answered, a smile across her lips. Mason watched her curiously, wondering as to what had her in such a good mood other than the prospect of leaving Incarceron. It didn't occur to him that leaving Incarceron alone was enough to put anybody in a good mood. "Are you staying there when we get back?"

"Yes," he answered. "Finn asked me to keep an eye on you and to check on Casper and Anne."

"He asked you, or you asked him?" Attia questioned and Mason's eyes narrowed at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You want to see Vivian again."

"Is it a problem I happen to think Vivian is good company?"

"Good company?" Keiro questioned from the other side of the room, but Mason's gaze remained fixed on Attia.

"No, it's not a problem at all, Mason," Attia answered as she dropped some folded clothing onto the edge of the bed, then peered up to meet his gaze. "But it means you'll get to go to all our family dinners, Zoe and her god-awful husband included."

Mason just stared at Attia as though it was first time he realized exactly who Vivian was in relation to Attia. Eventually, he cleared his throat and turned away from Attia to pay attention to Keiro on the other side of the room. "We'll leave after breakfast," he told them before he started towards the door. He was halfway out of the room when he turned back, his gaze falling on Keiro, since Attia had gone back to packing. "And uh… The King is arranging for Cale to be transported back to Court as a prisoner awaiting trial with Council serving as the jury."

"Cale?" Keiro questioned as he dropped whatever he was holding to pay his full undivided attention to Mason.

"Yeah," Mason answered as he nodded. "The uh… man from the feast." Mason escaped from the room before anything else could be said about the topic, forcing Keiro to go back to packing his trunk.


	25. Chapter 25

"Attia and Keiro are coming back today," Anne announced as she walked into Finn's office where Casper was attempting to show his natural talent at managing a kingdom. He was about as good at it now as he was last time he ran the kingdom for a week and nearly lost it to a bunch of power hungry council members.

"I knew that," Casper replied as he peered up to watch his wife walk into the room. In one hand he was clutching a paper that needed his signature as Regent, though he had no idea what the document was for. In the other hand, he held a stack of files that were of some importance, but he didn't know why those were important either.

"No, you didn't," Anne laughed as she crossed the room and came to Casper's side. She put a hand on his forearm as she pushed herself up to her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'll get the children ready for them."

"When if Finn coming back, do you know?" Casper asked as he dropped the stack of files to the desk and wrapped his arm around Anne's waist before she could get away.

"A couple more days," she laughed as she kissed him again but on the lips. When she left the office, she went to one of the courtyards where Charlotte and Kyra had taken to playing together since Attia left for Incarceron and was no longer around to keep Kyra occupied. Visiting Princess Avery was also with the two girls when Anne stepped into the entrance to the courtyard where three supervising nannies were seated on a bench and a combined four guards were standing around the area, two in Finn's colors, two in King Logan's.

"Kyra," Anne called as she stepped into the courtyard and approached the three girls, who were around the same age. "Your mother is going to be here soon. Would you like to put on a clean dress for when you see her?"

Kyra looked up at Anne and scrunched her nose as though some foul smell had breached the air around her. Anne, who already knew the answer, laughed and continued towards the three girls, holding out each of her hands. "Come on, Kyra. At least let me redo your hair. I know your mother likes it pinned up."

"Can you do mine, too?" Charlotte asked as she jumped up to her feet and took one of Anne's outstretched hands.

"Of course, sweetheart," Anne answered with a smile as she bent down to press a kiss to Charlotte's forehead. "Avery, would you like me to do your hair as well? I notice you like to always keep your hair in curls."

Avery peered up at Anne, her eyes wide as she stared up at the unfamiliar face. It wasn't the first time she'd spoken to Anne since she'd come to the Realm with her parents, but Anne had a feeling the young princess had a timid nature. Eventually, Avery nodded and reached out to take Anne's other hand. "Kyra, come on," Anne called as she turned and started walking back to Court, Charlotte and Avery on each side of her. Kyra was following right behind Anne, holding the hand of her nanny while the other two nannies and the guards walked further behind them. Anne lead the girls into her private drawing room, attached to her rooms in Casper's quarters, and arranged a few chairs around the center of the room so each girl had a place to sit.

Anne bent down in front of Kyra first and used a damp towel to wipe the dirt from Kyra's hands, arms, and face before she did the same for the other two girls. With one of her glass brushes, Anne managed to untangle Kyra's hair and restyle the braids. She secured them with ribbons that matched Kyra's dress that day, then pined them up with a few pins she collected from the back of her own hair do. Moving on to Charlotte, Anne had an easier time because Charlotte had more opinions on her physical appearance than Kyra did. She dictated to Anne exactly how she wanted her braids to look as they fell down her back and were tied off with matching ribbons. As Anne moved on to Avery, however, she moved around to the front of the chair to look Avery in the eye.

"How would you like me to style your hair, Avery?" Anne asked wetly as she smiled at the girl. "Do you want me to reset your curls?"

Slowly, Avery shook her head as she held Anne's gaze. After another moment, Avery turned to her side to look at Kyra and Charlotte, who were comparing the flowers they'd found in the courtyard that day.

"Would you like braids, then, like Charlotte and Kyra?"

Avery's eyes went back to Anne's and she nodded quickly as she began to smile. Anne smiled back at her before she stood up and moved to stand behind Avery. She combed out Avery's long curly hair and determined she'd need to wet the hair before attempting to neatly braid it. After a nanny fetched a spray bottle for her, Anne began to spray and separate Avery's hair. After she braided each section, she tied it off with spare ribbon Avery's nanny handed to her, then handed the young Princess a mirror when she was finished.

"Do you like them?" Anne asked and Avery nodded quickly as she handed back the mirror and smiled brightly at Anne. "Why don't you go with Charlotte and you can keep playing until dinner while Kyra and I go looking for her brothers, alright?" Avery nodded as she slipped off the chair and took her nanny's hand. Charlotte, her nanny, and the girl's combined three guards followed them out of the room while Kyra took Anne's hand. They walked through Court until they reached the Royal Guard's training area where Finn and Chris' guards were humoring the boys' interest in weapons.

"Finn! Chris!" Anne called as she looked out at the boys. "Your parents are almost here. Won't you come greet them?" The two boys seemed to discuss the prospect at length before one of the guards rolled his eyes and nudged Finn towards Anne, prompting Chris to lead the way. As the boys reached her, Anne held out her spare hand and Chris took it while Finn lead the way to the main entrance of Court. When the four got there, Keiro and Attia's carriage just arrived and they were walking into Court.

Attia was first to see their children and quickly went to them, Kyra and Chris more interested in her while Finn went straight to his father. Anne only smiled as she watched the pair embrace their children, then trade off so that both were able to see all three. Keiro noticed Anne first and smiled at her before redirecting all his attention to Kyra and Chris. He'd hoisted Kyra up to his hip while he held Chris' hand and the three walked behind Attia and Finn, who were holding hands as Finn recounted to his mother all the things the guards let him and Chris play with in the guard's training area. When Attia casted a glance back at the two guards Finn and Chris favored, they redirected their gazes to the floor, and were saved by Attia's good mood at being back.

Anne left the entrance hall through a different hallway than Attia and Keiro led their children down and went towards Finn's office again. When she got there, however, she found Casper had emptied the room of the courtiers and council members and was seated at the desk, his elbows on the corner of the desk, his face buried in his hands. "Are you managing, Casper?" she asked and Casper's eyes shot up to her like he hadn't heard her come in at all. She smiled sweetly in his direction before gently shutting the door behind her. In the silence of the room, the soft click of the door seemed rather loud.

"I don't think I can handle this for another few days," Casper admitted as he pushed off the edge of the desk and leaned back in the chair. Anne's smile stayed on him as she crossed the room. When she neared the desk, he pushed with his feet on the ground to make space between him and the desk, thus allowing Anne room to slide onto his lap. He put his arms around her waist as she reached out to brush the hairs from his face. "Did he forget all the shit I did last time he left me charge? I was worse than Attia. Worse than Attia, the woman who threatens to execute anybody who defies her."

Anne couldn't stop the laughs from escaping her lips, but she managed to muffle them when she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I want to have another baby, Casper."

"Oh god," Casper said as he pulled away from her and let his head drop back over the top of the chair. "Have you forgotten what it was like with a bunch of babies all over the place?" he questioned as he raised his head to meet her gaze.

"I want a daughter," she admitted, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth like she was worried what Casper's response would be.

"What? Charlotte and Kyra aren't cutting it for you?"

"Casper, I'm serious," Anne replied as she put each of her hands on his shoulders. Casper's lips slowly pulled up into a smile as he held her gaze.

"You know, I was the one who said we should keep trying after Chase, but you said that one was enough."

"I know," Anne replied as she rolled her eyes, but her smile made her pretend annoyance futile. "But I changed my mind now."

"Obviously," Casper laughed as he tightened his grip around her waist and tilted his head to kiss her lips. She returned the kiss eagerly, a testament to their privacy and her desire for another child. Casper, who knew that was the only reason she was so responsive, enjoyed it all the same. He felt one of her arms slide up to wrap around his neck while the other hand slide down over his chest. Her slender fingers pressed through his shirt to feel his muscles and eventually began to slip the buttons through their holes. "Really?" he questioned against her lips, his own lips forming a grin. "Here?"

"Why not?" she asked and Casper pulled back to stare at her in disbelief. He'd always been the one willing to do anything anywhere, whereas Anne had always clung to the safety of their bedroom for such antics.

"Well, alright," he laughed before he kissed her again with more passion than before now that the promise for something more was apparent. "What if we get another boy?" he asked suddenly in between the kiss, but Anne pulled away completely at the question. She rose an eyebrow at him and he just stared at her.

"We'll just keep trying then."

"Oh, we'll just populate the entire royal nursery then?"

"How many sons can we possibly have?"

"I don't think there's a set limit, Anne," Casper laughed, earning a hit on his chest. It was more a light tap, but it was enough to get her point across.

"That's not what I meant."

"Let's go," Casper laughed in response as he released her waist and motioned for her to climb off of his lap.

"Go where?"

"To our room, of course," he replied in her ear before he took the lobe, earring and all, into his mouth and nibbled lightly. Anne gasped in response as she reached for him, her arm wrapping around his backside as he released her ear and led the way out of the office.


	26. Chapter 26

Being back at Court settled Attia's mind better than she'd even hoped for. Within the next day, she was back in her office being more productive than she'd been before the trip. Her mind was clear and focused and she was no longer the weak sobbing woman she so hated Keiro to see, even if he just held her all the same. In the back of her mind, she knew her past would come back again as soon as Council had a hearing for Cale, the man Keiro knew as the janitor. Until then, however, she was determined to be who she was on the outside. She'd even taken over for Casper as temporary Regent during Finn's absence. It wasn't exactly legal since Finn wasn't there to authorize the shift in authority, but Council had signed off on the request and everybody knew Finn wouldn't care either way.

As soon as Attia finished up on her work in her office, she packed up all the documents she needed and crossed Court to go into Finn's office, where a number of courtiers and council members were already waiting for her sign off on all their requests. Attia was halfway to the desk when she noticed Vivian and Morgan in the room, so she motioned for them to come to her first.

"I'd like to petition for a loan to purchase more supplies for my work," Vivian explained as she set down a document in front of Attia. Attia rose her eyebrow as she eyes Vivian, then looked down at the document.

"Where did you get this?" she asked curiously as she looked up at Vivian again. Usually, Attia was the one who handed out loan requests and often signed off on them without someone ever needing Finn's permission.

"The Vault Manager," Vivian answered and Attia nodded as she laughed and signed her name across the bottom before she went searching through Finn's desk drawer. Sophie, one of the women on Council, quickly approached the desk and opened one of the side drawers before retrieving Finn's official stamp and handing it to Attia.

"Thank you," Attia said to her as she stamped the bottom corner of the document next to her signature. "Take it to the Vault Manager and request to have all the funds transferred to your account that way you'll have full access to them at all times. The loan is due in one year plus interest, and you'll be notified two months before then," Attia explained as she handed the document back to Vivian.

"That's it?"

"What do you want? An office?" Attia asked.

"The Prince already gave me one."

"Well, whenever someone shows up saying that you're in their office, come back and I'll find you a new one then," Attia answered after taking in a deep breath.

"Well, actually," Sophie started and Attia turned up to her. "I found her an empty office on the other side of the Council meeting hall. It's a little out of the way, but empty. And one of the other property managers in retiring in two months, so his office will be free then."

"Did Casper do anything at all when we were gone?" Attia asked curiously as she narrowed her eyes at Sophie.

"He tried," Sophie answered and Attia only laughed as she nodded and turned back to Vivian.

"If you wanted a closer office in two months, come to my office," Attia told her simply before she held out her hand to take whatever document Morgan was holding. "What's this?"

"The final copy of my marriage certificate," Morgan answered. Attia looked it over, checking the names and the dates before she signed the bottom and stamped the corner.

"Are you getting married here?" Attia asked as she handed the document back.

"No," Morgan answered as the door behind her opened. Attia leaned over to see Keiro walking into the room carrying a plate of food. Though Attia should have kept her attention on Morgan, she watched Keiro cross the room and set the plate on the desk in front of her.

"Lunch?" he asked.

"Are you kissing up for some reason?" Attia questioned as she looked up at Keiro.

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous. Can't I just make sure you're well fed?"

Attia rolled her eyes as she looked up at Morgan. "Have your marriage officiator and your two witnesses sign the bottom of the document, then send it back to Court. After it's been certified, you'll be given an official marriage certificate to keep."

"What about my name?" Morgan asked and Attia started digging through one of Finn's drawers that had files. Again, it was Sophie who recovered the document Attia was searching for. Attia signed and stamped the bottom of it before handing it to Morgan.

"Fill it out and leave it in my office before you leave. I'll file it and have it processed. You'll receive it with your marriage certificate."

"So, what do you think about a trip to Primstone?" Keiro asked suddenly and Attia craned her neck to look up at him.

"You are kissing up to me," she accused.

"I just think maybe it'd be good for the kids to go to Primstone with your father and Claire, and that you would go with them," Keiro replied, Attia's eyes narrowing at him.

"And you?"

"Right," Keiro replied nodding.

"You would come."

"Sure." Attia's eyes stayed fixed on him, well aware there was something he wasn't telling her, but also aware he wouldn't tell her what it was, especially not in public. With a sigh she turned back to the desk and started to eat the lunch he brought for her while the next person in the room approached the table with their own documents and problems.

Attia hardly heard what the man wanted because Keiro's fingers were pressing into the flesh of her shoulders, coaxing any tension out of them as he leaned down to whispered something into the shell of her ear.

"Your Grace?" the man called and Attia's eyes looked up at him as she shrugged her shoulders to push Keiro's fingers off of them.

"Yes, I heard you," Attia replied as she took his document and scribbled her name across the bottom and handed it back to him. Attia had started helping the next person when Mason walked into the office and made his way towards the desk. He waited for the other man to leave the desk before he handed a document to Attia. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Just needs your signature to keep the prisoner in the holding cells until the hearing," Mason answered. Attia's hand stilled for a moment before she nodded and forced her hand to move across the bottom of the page. She'd started to pick up the stamp, but it was Keiro who took it from her fingers and pressed the rubber end into the page. Mason peered up and met Keiro's gaze before he retrieved the page from the desk. He nodded to Attia before he turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

"We'll wait for Finn to have the hearing," Keiro said in Attia's ear before he turned his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Before she could say anything to him, he walked around the desk and crossed the room. Over the next few days, Attia kept her mind clear of the hearing and continued working from Finn's office as Regent. For lunch, she usually left the office to see Kyra, Finn, and Chris, but when Ronan came into the office one day, she opted to have lunch with him instead. For privacy, they went to Attia's office where nobody went looking for her anymore since she'd been working out of Finn's office as Regent.

"Did Vivian tell you?" Ronan asked as he looked up from his lunch to meet Attia's gaze. She rose an eyebrow as she peered up at him.

"Tell me what?"

"She's invited your guard to spend a few weeks with us at Primstone," Ronan answered.

"Mason?" Attia asked and Ronan nodded as he continued eating.

"Claire is hoping they'll get married before she dies," Ronan laughed and Attia laughed as well. "And Keiro said something about you and the kids coming soon."

"That's what he keeps telling me," Attia answered and Ronan eyed her carefully. "It was his idea, and I have a feeling he's planning something he's trying to keep from me."

"Well, how successful is he usually at keeping things from you?"

"Not very," Attia laughed and Ronan nodded.

"Can't imagine many things slip by you, even now," Ronan commented and Attia eyed him carefully. "I only mean that you're very alert about… all things. How are you holding up?"

"What are you talking about?" Attia asked as she kept her gaze on her food.

"You came back early from Incarceron," he replied as he watched her. "I can't imagine that's because the Prince was doing such a terrible job trying to keep things running around here." Attia's lips pulled up into a smile before she could stop it. "What happened in there?" he asked her directly.

"Just uh…" Attia started but wasn't sure how to continue. Ronan knew of the things Attia experienced but they never spoke about it, so Attia wasn't sure how to tell him now. "Someone from before."

Ronan seemed to understand what Attia meant since he just nodded and cleared his throat. "Well, Claire and I started the next part in renovating the Manor," he said, changing the subject. If Attia had never been comfortable discussing her past with him, he certainly wouldn't force her to do so.

"What are you working on now, then?"

"A brick wall around the building with gates in the front and back," Ronan explained. "And a paved driveway up to the front of the house, and paved walkways through the garden in the back."

"What garden?"

"The garden is after that," Ronan answered Attia only nodded.

"You have enough allowances from Finn to pay for all that?"

"I don't know," Ronan answered with a shrug. "You're the one who handles all my finances. You should let me know."

"It doesn't really matter," Attia laughed as she peered up and met his gaze. "Whatever you want to do, Finn will pay for it."

"He likes you," Ronan commented suddenly, and for whatever reason it seemed out of place to Attia. If Ronan had ever wanted to comment on her relationship with Finn, she thought it should've been years ago when he'd first met them.

"Well, it's pretty much predetermined that Keiro and I are going to retire at Primstone, so he might as well pay for it get fixed up now rather than later," Attia explained, though her explanation seemed rather hollow compared to Ronan's previous comment. "And you just made things easier for us in terms of properties and inheritances."

"What did I do?" Ronan asked as he narrowed his eyes at her. She set down her glass of water to meet his gaze.

"You're an excuse for me to have an inheritance, but it's obviously hollow considering you're not nobility in your own right, and I'm only nobility because Finn called me that when he got the throne. Everything we have is built on nothing really, but you give it a little bit of credibility from the outside at least."

"I didn't know you forcing the King to give me some run down old house was so beneficial."

"Well, it wasn't back then," Attia admitted and both laughed. "And it's nice, really having Primstone, because High Duke Hall is still in shambles. I've never done anything to fix it up and we've had it for years."

"I didn't know there was a High Duke Hall," Ronan replied.

"It's like the Wardendary," Attia explained with a shrug. "It just comes with the title, but Keiro had no reason to do anything with it before, and I've never even gone there to look at it."

"Well, you should fix it up for Finn. Little Finn, I mean. Won't he inherit it?"

"Eventually," Attia answered with a nod. "We've just spent a lot of time fixing up Chris' parent's house."

"The one that burned down?" Ronan asked.

"We bought the property a year ago for him," Attia answered. "Figured we'd give it to him when he was older, and that by then, we'd have finished up the remodeling."

"Remodeling?"

"Well, it's more like constructing a brand new house. Everything was destroyed except the foundation."

"What about Kyra?" Ronan asked.

"Primstone," Attia answered. "I've only just put all their inheritances together."

"You mean after the pregnancy?"

"Yeah, that kind of… turned things around a bit, but it's all settled now again."

"Why don't you get away for a few days?" Ronan suggested as he reached across the table to touch her hand. "Come out to Primstone with us. I think Keiro's right."

"I think Keiro's plotting something. I don't like him plotting something with Morgan here, it makes me weary."

"I seriously doubt whatever he's planning involves Morgan," Ronan laughed and Attia smiled as she nodded.

"I know that, but I still don't like it," Attia replied. "I hate Morgan, even after all this time. She makes me so mad and for no reason. It's ridiculous."

"It's because you love Keiro, darling."

"Can't I just hate her for no reason?"

"Isn't that irrational?" Ronan pointed out.

"I think it's more irrational to hate her because of Keiro," Attia replied sharply and Ronan laughed. She knew she sounded like a jealous wife, but Ronan knew better to point it out to her. Of course, he rather liked that his daughter had managed to develop such a relationship that created just a little irrational jealousy.


	27. Chapter 27

Attia was at Finn's desk signing off on various documents when the door opened and she peered up. Her eyes lingered on Finn for only a second before she continued signing the documents on the desk and stamping them with Finn's royal seal. "Handling everything well, I assume?" Finn asked as he crossed the room and came around to her side of the desk.

"Survived another three days inside, I assume?" Attia replied as she stood up from Finn's chair and handed off his pen. He let out a dry laugh as he took the pen from her hand and nodded.

"Barely," he answered as he tossed the pen to the desk and met her gaze again.

"I think I faired a little better out here than you did in there," Attia admitted as she replaced his seal to the desk Sophie had pulled it from a few days ago.

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Casper gave Vivian an office and I signed off on her loan for business materials."

"We have an extra office?" Finn asked.

"On the far side of the Council meeting hall," Attia laughed and Finn laughed as well, since both were aware how out of the way those rooms were in comparison to where the usual offices were located. "And she invited Mason to come to Primstone with us for a vacation."

Finn rose an eyebrow at her and Attia only nodded. Eventually, Finn laughed as he turned towards the desk, where he noticed Mason in the doorway of the office. Attia turned and saw him as well, but her face remained straight.

"That'll be interesting," Finn commented and Attia laughed again as she walked around the desk to leave the room, now that her reign as Regent was officially over. Mason watched her, but he knew she didn't have any objection against him so he didn't stop her. After she left the room, Mason approached the desk and stopped in front of it as Finn took his seat. "Cale got here alright?"

"Yeah, he didn't resist at all," Mason answered. "He did, however, request a defense representative for his hearing, who filed a counter case against Keiro for assault," Mason explained as he dropped a few pages on the desk. Finn drew in a deep breath as he thumbed through them and nodded before he looked up at Mason again.

"Is there something else?" Finn asked as he rose an eyebrow.

"Nobody's saying anything, but uh… Nobody really thinks he's going to make it to a hearing. You know, with Keiro here and all."

Finn kept his gaze on Mason as he considered how to respond to such a comment. Of course, it hadn't escaped Finn's mind that he might come back to find a dead prisoner with no evidence left behind, but it shouldn't have surprised him if others had thought the same thing. "Just have all the guards continue doing their jobs," Finn answered. Mason stared down at the King before he finally nodded and turned to leave the room.

Keiro insisted that Attia didn't have to be present for the Council hearing, but she mostly just ignored him as she walked through Court towards the Council meeting hall. When they walked into the room, Finn, Claudia, and Charles were already present and seated around the table with about half of the Council members including Sophie.

"You don't have to be here-"

"I will stab you, Keiro," Attia said strongly as she turned and met his gaze. "If you finish that sentence one more time, I will stab you."

Keiro stared at her, lips parted, as he considered her threat. He couldn't tell if it was empty or not, but considering she was a woman who so enjoyed carrying knives, he thought it a better choice to take her words at face value. At that, he nodded once and turned away from her to look vacantly across the table, where Charles was barely able to contain his smile.

"He's right, Attia," Finn said as he turned to her and she did the same towards him. "You really don't have to-"

"I'll stab you, too," Attia told him and Finn only nodded as he turned away to face forward.

"Never mind, then," he said, and Charles' laugh finally escaped him. The rest of Council arrived before Mason came in with two guards behind him who were escorting the prisoner Cale. Behind him, a woman in a nice dress suit was holding a folder and pen. The two guards motioned for Cale to sit at the table while the woman sat beside him while Mason moved around the table to sit on the other side of Keiro.

"My client has submitted an assault case against His Grace, Lord Keiro," the woman announced as she pushed a piece of paper to the center of the table.

"He pleads guilty," Finn replied and Keiro turned to him with narrowed eyes.

"Since when?" Keiro snapped.

"Since you hit the man in a room with three hundred witnesses," Finn answered as he turned back to him. Keiro rolled his eyes and turned away from Finn but not until he felt Attia's hand on his leg beneath the table.

"Fine," Keiro replied with a heavy breath.

"We're charging him with rape," Finn said as he looked first at the prisoner, then shifted his eyes to the woman seated beside him.

"Do you have any evidence?" the woman replied and Finn turned to Claudia, who'd gone through the Prison's records to find all the instances Keiro had mentioned. She set a large stack of files on the table and slide them down to the center of the table and the woman turned to her client.

"Great, so Council can go over all of that, and we're going to go," Keiro said as he stood up, one hand pulling on Attia's arm.

"Is there anything else?" Finn asked the woman who eventually shook her head. "Then clear the room and let Council discuss the evidence," he said as he rose to his feet. Attia and Claudia stood, followed by Charles and Mason, and they all filed out of the room. Before Attia could get down the hall, however, Finn grabbed her elbow.

"I need you to do me a favor," Finn told her as he stepped towards her. "Keep Abigail busy for the day, can you?"

"What about Claudia and Anne?" Attia replied.

"Just do it," Finn replied as he released her arm and turned to walk down the hallway. He motioned for Mason and Keiro to follow, but Charles went with them as well. Attia turned back to see Claudia still waiting for her, and the two went down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Why does he want me to keep her busy?" Attia asked as she looked to Claudia.

"He's denying the marriage request for real this time," Claudia answered as she turned to Attia. "I think he's hoping that if they leave here with favorable opinions then we might be able to keep the alliance."

"She annoys me so much," Attia admitted, and Claudia only laughed as they continued down the hall.

"Maybe don't let her know," Claudia suggested. "And besides, she seems quite fond of you, even if you've only spent a few minutes with her in total."

"She said that?"

"She's always saying such nice things about you, and Finn and I can't figure out where the hell she's getting it all from," Claudia laughed again. By then the two women were on the floor below the Council meeting hall and were almost to Anne's rooms were Queen Abigail was waiting with Anne.

"Maybe Anne had been rather generous in talking about me," Attia suggested. Claudia only shrugged, but Attia caught a smile on her face when she turned back briefly before opening the door to Anne's drawing room. Claudia and Attia smiled their diplomatic smiles as they stepped into the room where Anne and Queen Abigail were seated across a table from one another, each with a cup of tea in their hands.

Both turned to the door way as Claudia and Attia entered and smiled at them before Anne motioned for them to take the two empty seats around the table. "I trust you enjoyed your trip to Incarceron," Attia commented as she turned to meet Queen Abigail's gaze.

"I did," Queen Abigail answered with a polite smile and nod. She could tell the topic of Incarceron was a touchy subject and had even averted her eyes from Attia's. "So," she started after clearing her throat and brightening her smile. She turned to look at Claudia. "I assume our children will not be marrying each other in the future."

Claudia managed to keep her face straight despite her surprise. Finally, she cleared her throat as she replied. "No, they won't."

Queen Abigail's smile shifted slightly and Attia managed to read a bit of sadness in the other woman's face for a fleeting moment. "That's too bad. I'd had hoped my daughter would be able to have a life here rather than in Mallery."

"At least she'll be close to home," Anne put in cheerfully and Queen Abigail's slightly saddened smile shifted to her.

"I feel as though the three of you don't fully understand the wonderful positions you're in," Queen Abigail commented as he gaze shifted to Claudia, then to Attia, where it lingered. "Except perhaps you, Lady Attia."

"What do you mean?" Attia asked as she held the Queen's gaze.

"Your life here is something to be appreciated. You're women in power, and not just in name but in practice as well. Your lives aren't dictated by the desires of men. Tell me, you each have daughters. Girls who will grow up to be important women in the Realm," she explained as she looked briefly to Claudia, but still kept her gaze focused mainly on Attia. "Have either of your husbands' once attempted to find a husband for those girls? Make a political match for them?"

"Keiro doesn't have that kind of power over our children," Attia admitted right away.

"Exactly my point," Queen Abigail answered with a smile. "I wanted my daughter to have the life you have here rather than I life I've had there. I'd hoped an agreed upon marriage contract would've granted her that much."

"I'm sorry," Claudia said, pulling Queen Abigail's attention to her. "Your husband likes to point out that my husband and I had a marriage contract signed by our parents when we were children, but we married for love when it came time for that, and I don't think my husband has the heart to decide the future for our son like that."

"A noble quality for a man to have," Queen Abigail replied.

"Do you think your husband will allow us to keep an alliance even after we deny the marriage contract?" Claudia asked. The other queen took a moment to decide before she finally nodded and lifted her tea cup to her lips.

"He'll never admit it, but we rely on the trades between our Kingdoms rather heavily. Unfortunately, we've not fared as well over the years as your kingdom has. I think that was quite a bit to do with your tendency to allow technological advances while my husband likes to hold steadfastly to the traditions of the past."

"Is that why you have no political power at all, and we've all been reduced to hosting a tea party while the men work out all the specifics?" Attia asked, earning a hard glare from Claudia. Queen Abigail, however, seemed to enjoy the refreshing honest quality Attia had.

"Yes, I believe those things are connected," Queen Abigail finally answered with a nod. "I'm sorry my presence has kept you from your work. I'm also sorry if anything I've said to you previously was insulting to your position or the dynamic of the relationship between you and your husband."

Attia only raised an eyebrow as she stared at the Queen, completely at a loss for words.

"It has only recently donned on me that your way of life here is as foreign to me as mine is to yours. The only difference is I wish I could have life like yours, whereas I know you would never stand to be in a situation like mine."

"I suppose you could see it like that," Attia replied, since she had nothing else to say.


	28. Chapter 28

**This is the last chapter! But don't worry, the next installment of this series will be up tomorrow! And thanks for reading this far, for those of you who had stuck with this for this long. **

* * *

Attia skipped the next Council meeting when they announced their decision. She wasn't a fool. She knew what exactly was in all those files Claudia produced, and she knew exactly how Council would rule on the case. Instead, Attia sat on a stone bench in the gardens beside Kyra's nanny, with Charlotte's on the other side of her. The two girls were running together through the grass, each stopping every few minutes to pick a flower or colorful weed. When Kyra had gathered an armful, she went to her mother, who slid down from the bench to sit on the grass with the girls. At Kyra's request, Attia assembled a number of flower wreaths, necklaces, and bracelets, then adorned her daughter and niece in them all.

She couldn't even remember how she learned to make such pretty things, but it didn't really matter. She also knew how to style hair and that certainly hadn't been a trait of any particular value on the Inside. At the same time, every bit of her was glad the ability to make things look pretty—flowers and hair alike—was valued on the Outside.

Since she'd been so caught up in watching Kyra and Charlotte, she was startled when a hand touched her shoulder. Keiro pulled back his hand right away, knowing better than to startle her. "It's me," he announced before he lowered himself to the ground beside her.

"Council meeting end?" she asked, though she already knew that was why he was with her now.

"Yeah," Keiro answered with a nod. He reached over to take her hand in his though his eyes followed Kyra around the grassy field. "I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"I tried to take money out of your vault to pay my stupid fine for assault and they wouldn't let me have access."

Attia laughed suddenly and loudly, though Keiro wasn't sure what she found so humorous. "How much is the fine?"

"Fifty silver pieces," Keiro answered and Attia laughed again. "What is it?"

"That's the price for the new table set Council has been petitioning for… for months," Attia answered as she turned to look up at Keiro. He narrowed his eyes at her, slightly uncertain of what she meant. "All fines ordered by Council as a jury goes into their vault to spend on anything they agree on," she explained and Keiro rolled his eyes as Attia laughed.

"Is that only reason they set it that high?"

"Yes," Attia answered with only a laugh entangled in her words.

"He got life in top security prison," Keiro finally said when it became clear to him that she wouldn't ask. "They're transferring him in a few days."

"Well, I figured we'd go to Primstone," Attia replied with a shrug as she squeezed his fingers and turned to meet his gaze. He nodded before he kissed her lips briefly. "And bring Mason with us, too."

"Of course," Keiro said as he rolled his eyes. "I don't see how he and Vivian are ever going to work."

"Did you see how we were going to work?" she replied and he only nodded as he acknowledged her point.

"I think we have a different situation than they do."

"Oh yeah?" she questioned, her voice lighthearted and her eyes bright. "Like what? We're insane and they're not?"

"I was thinking the other way around," he admitted and both started laughing.

Finn had made all the preparations for Attia and Keiro to go to Primstone, which was considerably easier for him now that the Mallery Royal family had left and were no longer demanding his attention. Mason was granted a three week leave from his duties to go as well, though he'd received more than his fair share of comments regarding the nature of his visit to Primstone. All in all, everyone rather liked the idea of Mason and Vivian solely because she was not the worst possible choice, despite Attia's opinions of her.

The day before they were set to leave, Attia walked into Finn's office with a few documents in her arms. Keiro was walking right behind her since he had nothing better to do for the day other than follow her around and wait until they were alone to kiss her for longer than a second at a time. "I transferred Keiro's fine to the Council vault," Attia said as she dropped one page on the desk in front of Finn. He only nodded as he scribbled his name across the bottom. After Finn moved the page Attia put another in front of him.

"What's this?" he asked as he signed his name across the bottom.

"Gives Keiro permission to have access to my vault," Attia answered and Finn just nodded as he handed it back to her. Before Finn said anything, Charles came into the office and strode across the room to stand beside Attia in front of the desk.

"You already made the transfer?" Finn asked as he looked up at Charles. "That was fast."

"They never made it to the prison," Charles replied and Finn stood up quickly.

"Then where is he?" Finn demanded.

"In the morgue," Charles answered. Finn's face softened for a moment until he realized the implications of Charles' answer.

"He died?" Finn clarified, obviously confused.

"My men were on schedule to deliver Cale to the prison when they were attacked," Charles answered. "By five to ten men."

"How many dead?" Finn asked as he drew in a breath and sat back down.

"Just the prisoner," Charles answered. When Finn peered up at him, the Commander had the slightest of smiles across his face but it was gone before Finn could even be sure it had been there at all. "All the guards were knocked out without any real injuries except the blow to the head, and when they came to, the prisoner was dead."

"And they… what? Took some weapons, armor?" Finn asked.

"Nothing," Charles replied.

Finn remained quiet even as he forced his gaze to Attia, then to Keiro. "So five to ten men ambushed the guards who were transporting him to the prison, knocked them all out with no serious injuries, then killed the prisoner and ran away?"

"Why are you asking me?" Keiro replied, his lips pulled up in an undeniable smug grin.

"I'm just looking at you," Finn answered before his turned his gaze to Charles.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Charles said with a nod. "That is exactly what happened."

"You look amused," Finn accused, though he could feel a smile threatening his lips as well. He took a deep breath and looked to Attia, who had a smile as well. She'd reached to her side to slip her hand in Keiro's, but said nothing.

"Shall we launch an investigation?" Charles asked as he cleared his throat.

"No," Finn answered with a shake of his head. "I think this was an isolated incident." Charles nodded at the reply and started to turn back to leave the office, but paused as he met Keiro's gaze.

That night, as Attia and Keiro lay in bed, he could feel her body refusing to relax and release the tension she carried in her muscles. He lined himself up with her body and wrapped one arm completely around her before he pressed his lips to her neck. "How did you do it?" she finally asked. He remained silent, so she turned in his arms and held his gaze. "How did you hire men to kill him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. It was a lie, and she could tell. He'd done well at hiding it, and she would've believe him if she didn't believe with every last bit of herself that Keiro was responsible for killing the man who'd nearly destroyed her in another life.

"Ok," Attia finally said with a nod as she accepted that Keiro probably would never tell her the specifics. To get her mind off of the topic, she leaned forward and captured his lips with hers in a kiss that was certainly more than just a goodnight kiss. Keiro's hands had already traveled her body when she pulled away from him and locked their eyes. "Why did you do it?"

Keiro considered lying again, since that'd been his plan from the beginning. Deny, deny, deny. Not that it really matter. Not even Council would condemn him for what he did if Finn had ever let them try it. "Because I hated the idea that he was still alive even if he'd be locked up for the rest of his life."

Attia only stared at him until she finally nodded slowly. He captured her lips with his in an attempt to relax her. It worked.

The next morning, they left for Primstone with a freshness between them that hadn't existed since they'd gone into Incarceron. With the looming memories of Cale and her past fades, Attia's eyes shone a little brighter, and Keiro noticed her caresses had become gentler and were given out more often. As soon as they reached the Primstone Manor, Kyra, Finn, and Chris bounded out of their shared carriage and began running towards the building. Keiro and Attia followed behind them at a much slower pace, their fingers interlaced between them. Zoe and her husband, who'd been staying at the Primstone Manor, appeared in the doorway and let the three running children dash by them.

Attia and Keiro stepped into the house next, leaving behind them Mason and Vivian, who were promptly greeted by Zoe. Ronan had escaped the sisters as well since he followed his daughter into the house. Mason followed him in a few minutes later carrying Vivian's trunk on his shoulder. He set it down in the house along one of the walls before he peered up at Attia and Keiro. Attia eyed the Knight for a few seconds before she turned away and watched her children as they escaped the confines of the building through the back door.

"Don't go to the tree line!" she yelled after them just before well-mannered Chris gently shut the door behind him while Kyra and Finn were quickly growing smaller as they ran away from the house.

"You know that's exactly where they're going," Keiro commented and Attia shot a look up at him before she rolled her eyes and started after the three. Eventually, Ronan and Keiro escaped to the back of the house as well, where Ronan pointed out the future site of his brick wall and the garden he planned for the field behind the house. Attia was far out in the field, holding Chris' hand with one of hers while her other hand held her shoes. Finn and Kyra were throwing fistfuls of grass blades at each other, though the second their small child hands released the blades, they were scattered in the air by the breeze. Within a few minutes, Zoe's young daughter went running out into the field to play as well, her braids flying behind her as she went as fast as her legs could carry her.

When Keiro looked back at the house, he saw Claire was seated at the table on the porch with her two daughters on each side of her. Seated together but next to their female counterparts was Mason and Zoe's husband. Claire, most likely, had prepared a pitcher of lemonade that sat in the center of the table with a stack of upside down cups next to it.

"It was a good idea to come," Attia commented suddenly and Keiro turned his attention back to see she'd approached him and her father. She slipped her hand into his before she pushed herself onto her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. Keiro knew her affectionate bout was bound to end at some point, but he held on to every bit of it that she had left in her. As such, he tightened his grip around her fingers and smiled a real smile at her before forcing his gaze back to Ronan. "Your wall hasn't gone anywhere," she accused after taking a few seconds to survey the ground around them and looking back up at her father.

"It's just the foundation," he replied and Attia only nodded before she laughed. She was obviously humoring him, but that didn't stop him from waving his arms in vague directions to emphasize where the wall would be at some indefinable point in the future.

"I checked your account before we left Court," Attia told him when he turned away from his imaginary wall and back to her. "I don't think you have enough to hire a contractor."

"That's alright," Ronan replied with a shrug. "It's not that hard to lay a brick wall."

Attia rose her eyebrow at him before her eyes narrowed. She tightened her lips, but alas she made no sarcastic comment about the idea of her father doing manual labor on his own home just to make it pretty. Ronan, who noticed her response, or lack thereof, met and held her gaze before he started defending himself from her unspoken comment.

"I like doing work around the house," he explained. "It keeps me busy, working with my hands."

"I feel the same way," Keiro admitted and Ronan turned his gaze to the blonde.

"Then you can help."

"What?" Keiro questioned and Attia let out a dry laugh as she pulled her hand from Keiro's and started towards the house.

"Keep your eye on them, will you," she told him as she walked behind him. "I'm going to go look for the alcohol." Attia continued towards the house as Ronan explained in far greater depth his vision for the wall to a rather disinterested Keiro, but it'd been established years ago Keiro had no grounds to deny the man who was ultimately Attia's father. As Attia reached the porch, she met Mason's gaze. "I need your help," she told him as she passed the table and pulled open the back door.

"With what?" Mason asked as he turned his head to her, but hadn't made any effort to get out of his seat.

"What, Finn gives you three weeks off and suddenly won't do anything for me anymore?" she replied as she narrowed her eyes at him, though her smile lightened her overall appearance. Mason only stared at her until she laughed. "Need you to reach the top shelf for the alcohol," she told him. Deciding that was a good enough reason to get out of his chair, Mason nodded and stood up before following Attia into the house. When they returned, Mason carried two different bottles by their necks while Attia held several crystal glasses. She set them on the table before she peered out into the field to see her father had produced a stack of bricks and was on his knees as he stacked them up roughly here he wanted the wall. Keiro stood behind him, rolling his eyes as he tried to devise any manner of an escape.

"Attia!" Keiro called and she rose an eyebrow as she kept her gaze on him. "Why don't you come out here and spend some time with your father?"

Attia snorted a laugh, though Keiro was too far away to have heard it. Those at the table, however, had gotten the full effect of her response as she lifted her hand and motioned for Keiro to get back to helping her father without her.

"You're just going to leave him out there all by himself?" Mason asked as he turned to Attia. It was a strange feeling for Attia to have someone other than Keiro call her out on her antics while at Primstone simply because Vivian, Zoe, and Claire never did.

"If you're volunteering to go help, then by all means," Attia replied. Mason let out a laugh before he lifted his drink to his lips and took in the alcohol.

"I meant you should go," he told her.

"I'm a woman and building a wall is strictly men's work, wouldn't you say?"

"If you can swing a sword at me and nearly put me in the hospital, I think you can lay some bricks just fine," Mason replied and Attia laughed but kept her gaze fixed on the children playing in the far distance. It seemed Chris, now only wearing one of his shoes, was chasing after Kyra and Finn, who held the missing shoe, while Zoe's daughter was entertaining herself elsewhere. Chris seemed to be having a hard time compensating for the lack of traction on his barefoot, but kept on chasing his siblings all the same.

"I can't wait to have children," Vivian commented as though she'd been watching the same scene Attia had.

"I think that's code, Mason," Attia commented and the Knight turned to her finally, and she met his gaze.

"And you don't think that's inappropriate with her mother right here?" he questioned.

"Oh, what do you think Keiro would've said," Attia replied, obviously entertained with herself. "And besides, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to come here."

Mason said nothing as he ran his hand through his hair and bit back any response he might've had. Attia laughed again, seemingly at nothing, but he knew it was because she recognized his inability to respond the comment the way he usually would've had they been alone, or just with Keiro for that matter.

After Attia had her drink, she joined Keiro and her father, who'd gotten part of the wall built on their own. Rather than help them, however, Attia sat on the ground near the stack of bricks and watched, sending suggestive glances to Keiro whenever her father wasn't looking. He seemed to catch on, since he started to avoid looking at her whenever he went to get bricks. He'd also started taking more of them whenever he did so as to prolong the amount of time before he had to face her again.

"You're annoying me," Keiro finally declared as he turned back to her.

"Excuse me?" she replied as she rose an eyebrow at him. By then, Mason had sought an escape from the overwhelming presences of Vivian, Zoe, and their mother combined, so he was on the far side of the wall applying the wet cement with a trowel. Out of the corner of her eye, Attia could see Keiro's comment had pulled his attention as well.

"You heard me," Keiro replied sharply. "And if you don't stop-"

"What are you going to do about it, Keiro?" Attia questioned as she held his gaze. She tilted her head ever so slightly and parted her lips enough to pull her bottom lip between her teeth, though it did nothing to hide her coy smile. Keiro, who couldn't handle the teasing any longer, dropped the brick in his hand and took two long strides towards Attia. Before she could even respond, he'd dropped to his knees in front of her and wrapped one arm around her body, his other hand following her leg up the skirt of her dress.

Mason, who'd been expecting a more adulterated action, was shocked when Attia pulled out a knife that had been strapped to Attia's leg above the hem of her shirt. She was shocked as well at Keiro's response to her action, so she'd just gotten to her feet when Keiro was already at the wall with a fresh layer of wet cement across the top layer of brick.

"Keiro, no!" Attia called out, but it was too late since he'd already pressed the blade of the knife into the cement until it spilled over the top of the blade and encased it completely. Mason had also expected a yelling match between the two, but instead only Attia was yelling while Keiro laughed. For good measure, he pushed a brick into the cement above the blade of her knife, thus sealing its fate to remain in the wall. "I can't believe you did that! You're so childish!"

"I'm childish?" Keiro questioned as he rose his eyebrow at Attia. "You're the one-"

"What?" Attia questioned when Keiro stopped himself from continuing.

"You're the one making bedroom eyes at me the entire time we've been out and it's driving me crazy cause I'm trying to finish a damn wall."

Attia's cheeks flushed, and Keiro grinned victoriously, since she'd not expected Keiro to make such a comment in front of her father. "You ruined my father's wall, Keiro," she replied sharply as she narrowed her eyes at him, doing her best to ignore his last comment.

"You're distracting!"

"You're irritating," she replied sharply, then noticed her father standing behind Keiro, his eyes narrowed at the pair. Keiro noticed her lack of attention on him, so he turned over his shoulder to see Ronan watching them. "Don't worry, Keiro will fix your wall after his bout of childish behavior."

Ronan only laughed as he watched Keiro struggle to not snap back at her. "It's alright," Ronan finally said as he leaned over the top of the wall and eyed the fancy handle of the knife sticking out from between two bricks. "I kind of like it."

Keiro looked back at Attia, rather proud of himself, which showed through is victory grin. Attia rolled her eyes at him and tried to ignore the look he was giving her, but her efforts were lost when she felt his hand wrap around her arm and pull her up to her feet. "You're a shit," Attia told him though she put her arms around his neck as she said it. His grin grew bigger before he kissed her lips, regardless if her father was still standing behind them.


End file.
